


An Arrow Dipped In Ink

by VileMalapert



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Explicit Language, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-09
Updated: 2015-06-07
Packaged: 2018-02-16 17:36:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 22
Words: 62,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2278653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VileMalapert/pseuds/VileMalapert
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happenes when a beautiful gothic artist finds herself lost and on the Dixon Boys front lawn when the world ended. Can she teach Daryl to open up even if only to her? Later chapters are explicit. Daryl/OC</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

New Jersey in the summer time is not a pleasant place to be. It was hot as hell and getting hotter as the as the day went on. Rayne was sitting around her apartment enjoying her day off. She was a part time tattoo artist/shop manager by day and an exotic dancer by night. It wasn't what her mother wanted for her but, it paid the bills. She was just about to light a cigarette when her cell phone went off. She was surprised when she saw that it was her friend Kim from college. They two girls were both art majors and they built a friendship through that. Kim had moved on to bigger and better things, while Rayne was still stuck in Jersey. 

She smiled as she answered the phone,“Yo bitch”

“Hey girl, how have you been?”, asked Kim.

“You know same shit different day. What do I owe the pleasure of this call?” Rayne was happy to hear from her friend again.

“Well I'm having an art show down here in Atlanta and I wanted you to come and bring some of your work. I know it's been a long time since we have talked but I just love your work and I want to show it off. Plus, I have a huge after party planned and I know how your always down for a party.”

“I'm always down for a party. When is it?” There was excitement in Rayne's voice.

“It's in a week you think, you can come down here tomorrow? I know it's short notice.”

“Ya, let me make a few calls and I'll get back to ya but I don't see why the fuck not.”

She hung up with Kim and got on the phone with Tony, her boss from the club. She informed him that she was gonna take 2 weeks off to go see a friend. He threatened to fire her for taking so much time off but they both knew that she was the best dancer he had so he gave in to her request. She called the tattoo shop and talked to Mikey, the owner, and told him that she was going to take some time off. He wasn’t happy about it either but he also gave her the go ahead to take time off. She called back Kim and told her the good news. She was walking around her bedroom while talking to Kim and noticed the bow case in her closet, “Hey, we should do a little target practice while I'm out there.”

“Hey you know me, I'm always ready for target practice. Bring the big bow with you and I’ll see if I can sneak out for awhile.”

Kim's daughter was in the background trying to get her mothers attention. Kim had gotten married to a really nice guy after college and had a child with him. Rayne had always wanted to get married and have kids but with her job and lack of a decent man that didn't look like it was going to happen anytime soon. She was 28 and still didn't settle down with anyone yet. She liked her freedom too much to give it up that easy. She hung up with Kim and started to pack for her trip. 

After getting all her clothes together she took her bags and bow down to the car. She owned a 1986 Monte Carlo SS. It was her dream car and most of all she loved to be under the hood. She had a family friend growing up whose dad owned a junk yard. He taught her everything she needed to know about cars. She loved getting her hands dirty. She wasn't your typical girl. She was more like one of the guys kinda girl. She could go out drink and party with any man she came across. She threw the bow in the trunk and for some reason she thought about putting extra supplies in there as well. She knew how much her car didn't like the heat so she got a case of water and some food in case she got stuck out on the road. With extra supplies and her stuff all packed up in the car she headed back upstairs. She started her usual nightly routine of getting drunk and playing on the computer.

 

When she woke up the next morning she headed straight for the bathroom to get some medicine for her nice sized headache she had. After getting in the shower and getting dressed she was ready for her long drive. She decided that she would stop in Charlotte since it wasn't too far from Atlanta. She walked out of her apartment dressed in skin tight jeans, a tight Lynyrd Skynyrd tank top that she made out of an old shirt and combat boots. She had long jet black hair what she dyed fire red streaks in. She had piercings all over the place. They were all over her ears, lips, tongue and a few other places. She was covered in tattoos as well. She was by no means an unattractive girl either. She was curvy but not too overweight. She had large breasts, flat tummy and an ass that matched her chest. An beautiful hour glass figure. 

She made it to Charlotte in about 9 hours and stayed in a trashy motel for the night. She was standing outside her room smoking since there was a cool breeze outside. She had over heard on the TV that there was some kind of infection going around. She didn't think anymore of it after she turned off the TV and went to bed.

The next morning she had stopped for gas in some hick ass town. She went into the store and grabbed 6 cartons of Marlboros since there were dirt cheap compared to what she paid for them back in Jersey. The temperature outside was starting to get hotter by the second so she picked up some more water. She was taking back roads after she left the gas station. She wasn't in a hurry to get to Kim's house so she figured she would enjoy it. Georgia was a more beautiful that she ever thought.

After an hour of driving around the back woods of Georgia she knew that she was lost as hell. She had to stop somewhere to ask for directions back to the fucking highway. She was hoping that southern hospitality was still around and that she wouldn't get shot in the face. She turned down a dirt road and that had a few trailers on it. She figured 'ah what the hell, I'll just knock on one of those doors'. She pulled into a half ass drive way where an older model pick-up was parked. She turned off her engine and walked up to the trailer. She put her sunglasses on her head and knocked on the door. She waited awhile and knocked again. She turned around and contemplated leaving when the door to the trailer opened. 

There in the door way was a tall redneck looking like he was asleep or drunk as a skunk. He had short light brown hair and stunning blue eyes, not what she expected to see. He was fairly attractive as far as rednecks go. Then he spoke, “Da hell ya want?”

“Hmm, well you ain't what I expected. Look I'm sorry for waking you up but I'm fucking lost. Ya think ya could help a girl out here?”

He looked her up and down for a minute and with a slight smirk he said, “Hell nah, now git da hell outta here”

“Well ain't you a fucking gentleman. Have a nice fucking day.” She walked back to her car and started the engine. 

It was then that her car started to act up. She got out of the car yelling and cussing. She popped the hood to take a look. Pulling out the dipstick she noticed that she was really low on oil. She wiped the dipstick on her shirt and went looking through her trunk for some oil. Usually she keeps some in there but of course she didn't have any and she was stuck in a cranky redneck's lawn. When she came around to the front of the car she saw the man leaned against the side of the car, sipping on a beer, “Ya know what your doing there girl?”

“Thought you didn't give a shit. But yeah, I know what I'm doing.”

“Your right I don't.” ,he narrowed his eyes at her.

“Look, I'll make you a deal. You get me some oil for my car and I'll trade ya a carton of smokes. Then I can get the hell out of your hair.”

He stared at her for awhile then nodded his head. He took off toward the house but went around back. She leaned against the front of the car and lit a cigarette. As he was walking back in her direction he could hear the roar of Merle's bike. She could see him looking down the road and saw the expression on his face change. He looked nervous and a bit scared.

“My name's Rayne by the way.”

“Name's Daryl.”

She extended her hand to him but he looked at her funny. Maybe he didn't like to be touched. He hesitated but took her hand in his and shook it. She went around to the driver side and grabbed a carton of cigarettes like she promised. As she handed them over a big burly man on a chopped pulled into the yard. He looked too young to be his father so maybe his brother. 

He shut the bike off right next to her car, “Well what we got here lit'le brotha? Did ya git me a present? She ain't really mah type but she sure does look like a sweet piece of ass.”

“Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me. Trust me, I ain't your type at all.” Rayne saw suddenly sick to her stomach looking at the older man. 

“Well then darlin', what da hell you doing here? I know ya ain't here to see ol' Darylina.”, he asked her.

She could see the timidness all over his face. Daryl looked over at his brother and gave him a stare. He may have been an asshole to her earlier but she thought she would help him out. He looked like he could use a boost of confidence. 

“And what if I am?” ,she said to him with a raised eyebrow. 

Moving closer to Daryl she put her hand on his chest lightly. She felt him tense up under her hand. 

“Well I'll be damned, ha ha. I didn't know ya had it in ya baby brotha. I'll leave y'all to it then.”

“It was nice meeting you umm...” ,she couldn't remember if she got his name or not.

“Merle...Merle Dixon” ,he told her.

She extended her hand to him and said, “Rayne O'Brien”

Merle nodded to his brother and walked in the trailer shutting the door behind him. There was a silent sigh of relief from both of them. She removed her hand from his chest and backed up. They looked at each other in the eyes for longer than normal. She turned around and went over to the front of the car to put her oil in. She went to touch the oil cap but it was hot, “Ahh fuck!”

“Here”, Daryl handed her a rag from his back pocket. She took it from him and her fingers touched his. There was a kind of electric surge between them but they tried to ignore it. “Da fuck ya do tha' fir anyway?”

“I don't know. Your brother kinda looks like a jerk so I thought maybe I would give ya something to hold over his head. I'm pretty sure that there aren't a lot of girls that look like I do out here.”

“Ya sayin' I'm scared of him cuz I fucking ain't!” His voice got deep and angry as he got in her face. She didn't even flinch when he got in her face. Either this girl was hard as nails or has gotten her share of ass kickings. She watched his eyes dance around looking for a sign of fear on her face. 

She spoke to him softly and almost seductively since he was so close to her face, “I didn't say that at all. I was just trying to help you out but if you don't want it then I'll just leave.” She narrowed her eyes and continued, “Ya gonna hit me or kiss me redneck, cause your a little too close don't ya think?”

His body relaxed and his eyes darted all over her face and body. An evil smirk came across her face as she turned around and walked to the trunk of her car. Daryl was curious about her now but he wasn't the kinda of guy that warmed up to people very easily. He kept his distance but watched her to find out what she was doing. He heard the sounds of beer cans being opened as she handed him one. She threw her hair up and started to fill the car up with oil. She took a long swig of her beer while eying him down. “Ya gonna drink it or stare at it?”

“Ya fucking done yet so ya can git outta here?” ,he said as he drank his beer.

She cocked her hip out to the side and crossed her arms under her breasts, pushing them closer together, “Well ain't you fucking sassy. I like my men with a little fire in them.”

He thought that this girl was strange, but alluring. She had a beautiful face, even with all the metal in it, and a body to match. He wasn't a womanizer like Merle. He didn't really date he just had a few one night stands with the local girls from the bar. He wasn't much for talking to women but this girl was different. She was hardened and looked like she could take care of herself. He wanted to try to get to know her but his past wasn't the kindest so he was closed off and unsocial. She also had to be the biggest tease he ever met in his life. “Yea I bet you do. Maybe you should git to know Merle then.”

“What if I wanna get to know you instead?”

“I doubt that girly. Jus' finish up and git going.” He walked passed her chugging the rest of his beer. 

As he went to walk in the house she said to him, “It was a pleasure meeting you Daryl Dixon.”

“Yea whatever.” He shut the door to the trailer to find Merle sitting in an old beat up recliner. 

“Ain't ya gonna invite hot stuff inside for another beer? Maybe try to get some if your lucky.”

“Shut up, Merle.” He stood by the window watching her. He watched as she finished and walked back to the trunk he couldn't help but notice the sway of her hips. She came back around to shut the hood and he watched as her shirt lifted up as she reached for the hood. She had such pale white skin. 

He stopped staring at her when Merle came to stand beside him, “If you ain't man enough to hit that then I think I will.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Da hell ya are Merle.” Daryl knew how horrible Merle treated women and even as much of a pain in the ass this gal was. He wasn't about to let Merle get his hands on her. Besides maybe she really did want to get to him and not Merle for a change. 

“Aw hell Jim's out there stumbling around all fucked up again.” said Merle.

Daryl looked out the window again to see one of Merle's scum bag friends walking around. Daryl walked outside toward Rayne. But as he got closer he could hear Jim groaning and snarling toward Rayne. He had blood all over his mouth, it was dripping down the front of him. He noticed the right side of his face had been ripped clean off. He felt panic welling up inside him but he pushed it away. Dixon boys weren't afraid of nothing. 

He came up behind Rayne and grabbed the back of her arm, “Walk real slow with me back to tha house. There sumthing aint right with him.”

As Daryl started to pull her back the bloodied and crazed Jim lunged at her. He was snapping at her trying to bite her. 

“Oh fuck” ,she screamed as Daryl picked her up in his arm and headed toward the trailer. Merle came outside and blasted Jim in the gut with his rifle. Jim stopped and looked up at Merle and tried to go after him. Merle blew his head clean off and he finally hit the ground. 

“What the fuck was what!? That mother fucker tried to fucking bite me!” Rayne was scared out of her mind.

“Calm down doll face. Daryl saved your sweet ass.” Merle told her.

She looked over her shoulder into Daryl's eyes. He looked at her but then quickly looked away. He also realized that he still had his hands wrapped around her waist holding her close to him. She blushed and pulled away from him. She was messing with her hair out of nervous habit. Merle smiled an evil smile at Daryl then turned away to walk back inside. 

Daryl turned to Rayne, “Ya comin' or not woman?”

“Don't call me woman, redneck, I have a fucking name ya know.” She pointed her finger at him.

“So do I, so quit calling me redneck!”

Once again he got in her face. So close that she felt his breath on her lips. The longer he stayed there the more labored their breathing became. She spoke softly to him again but this time there was a hint of lust. “Are you trying to tease me cuz I think it might be working.”

He pulled back, kind of surprised but her statement. He rolled his eyes at her, “If I was trin' ta tease ya, you would know it. Now git your ass in da house.”

“Now that would be an interesting sight if I do say so myself.”

Daryl just shook his head and followed her into the house. Merle turned on the TV and everyone was talking about the infection. People were in a panic and headed to Atlanta for safety. The infection was spreading like wild fire all over the east coast. 

Daryl asked, “What do ya think Merle? Should we head to Atlanta too?”

Just then there was more groaning coming from outside. Merle looked out the window to find the neighbor girl walking around with half her guts hanging out. “Aw shit man, looks like Bobbie Jo got infected too. Damn it, I was gonna hit that later tonight.”

He kicked the door open and put a bullet in her head. He shut the door once he was done and looked to Daryl. “Load up the truck and git the guns. We are git'en da fuck outta here. Ya gonna bring hot stuff with you?”

“She ain't my responsibility. She is on her own.”

Rayne looked over at the two men who were ready to drop her like a bad habit. “Well fuck you too then!”

She stormed out of the trailer and headed to her car. She opened the trunk and pulled out her 9mm that she kept hidden. She slammed the trunk shut and checked to see if it was still loaded. She stuck it in the back of her pants. 

Daryl was loading up the truck with a crossbow slung over his shoulder. Just then she had a moment of fear and panic. What if she gets infected after she leaves? What if she never sees them again? What if she never gets to know what its like to kiss him. She found him attractive there was no denying that. It wasn't like she was in love with him or anything because she doesn't do that. Falling in love is for normal girls, not girls like her. Who would fall in love with a stripper anyway? She said quietly to herself, “fuck it.”

She walked right up to him and before he could say some kind of smart ass remark, she slapped him in the face. She stood her ground ready for him to hit her. Although he did exactly what she thought he would do. He stood there in complete shock for a split second. Then he got right up in her face and raised his fist ready to strike her. Before he could react she pressed her lips against his. His body relaxed and then tensed up again. He couldn't deny how pissed he was but also couldn't deny the surge of electric energy that he was feeling. He gave into her intoxicating taste. He pushed her back into the side of the truck. Their tongues met with a fury. He had never been kissed with such a passion before. He laced his fingers in her hair and lifted her left leg up so he could grab her ass. She pulled away from him, both of them breathing heavily, “I didn't want to die without knowing what it was like to kiss you. Goodbye Daryl.”

He watched her walk away swaying her hips. He was so thrown off at this point he couldn't even think. When she got to her car another infected person came after her but this time she had no fear. She stood there with her legs spread apart and pulled out her 9mm. He aimed and fired a shot right into its head. She jumped in the car, fired up the engine, peeled wheels and drove off out of sight. 

Merle stood next to Daryl and said, “Damn baby brother, now that's a woman!”

Daryl shook his head and started to pack up the truck again. 

 

Rayne finally found the highway and headed into Atlanta. She thought that something was wrong when she saw all the deserted cars on the road heading out of the city she started to panic a little. The road into the city however was completely empty. There was no way in fucking hell she was going into the city now. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her gut that something had gone wrong within the city. She could see infected people walking around the out skirts of the city. She turned the car around and headed back the way she came. After awhile of driving she could see another car coming her way. She was so relieved that there were more people around. She was hoping that they would be nice and let her tag along with them. When it got closer she noticed it was a blue pick up. She knew exactly who it was and shook her head. It just had to be him right, out of all the people in the world she would run into him again. She flashed her lights and slowed down. 

She pulled up right next to them, “Well hello there stranger. I wouldn't go that way if I were you boys. The road is empty going into the city and it looks like people were trying to get out but never made it.”

“I thought the news said it was safe?” asked Daryl.

“Well I guess everyone else heard that too and went there but they all got infected. I turned around before I got too far into the city.”

Merle pulled up on his bike next to Daryl's truck, “Yea well we need a gun shop lit'le lady so we best get to it”

“Can I follow you guys or am I still not allowed in the cool club?” asked Rayne.

Merle looked up at Daryl and said, “She is your woman, it's not up to me brother. If it was she could ride on my face.”

“Oh your such a fucking pig. I think I threw up in my mouth.” Rayne held her hand over her mouth, pretending to vomit.

Daryl gave him another death stare and said to him, “She ain't mah fucking woman!” Daryl pointed at Rayne, “Ya best not slow us down girl, cuz I will leave ya ass behind and not think twice.”

“Oh, trust me that piece of shit truck cant keep up with my baby.”

“We will see about that.” he narrowed his eyes at her.

Merle took the lead on his bike. Rayne and Daryl drove side by side behind him. They were trying to see who could so faster. Of course Rayne's Monte Carlo beat his shitty pick up. The sun was starting to set when they tired another back road into the city. Maybe the other side of the city wouldn't be that over run and they would get into a gun shop. They pulled up on a few cars that were pulled off on the side of the road. She jumped out to see if anyone was alive and she met some people that had grouped together. There was machine gunfire off in the distance so Shane asked if they wanted to follow them to a quarry that they knew was near by. Rayne looked to Daryl and agreed, much to Merle's protest, but they figured that they would survive longer as a group. Rayne and the Dixon boys followed the caravan of cars and an RV to where the quarry was. It was really dark out so a few of the guys lit a small fire. She got out of the car and grabbed a smoke out of her pack but couldn't find a lighter. 

She headed over to Daryl who was setting up a tent for him and Merle. “Hey Daryl, ya got a light?”

He tossed her his lighter and she tossed it back after she lit up. Merle was sitting in a camping chair drinking a beer. Of course he wouldn't forget to bring the beer. 

“Hey doll face wanna come an' keep ol' Merle company? It coul' get mighty cold out t'night.”

“No fucking thank you Merle I think I'll be fine sleeping in my car. Goodnight boys.” she wiggled her fingers at them. 

She pulled her car away from the group as well but not too close to the Dixon boys. She started to move some of her stuff out of the back seat so she could make room to sleep back there. The Dixon boys had lit their own fire so there was a little bit of light. She pulled out a huge case from the backseat. Dropping it on the ground she opened it up. Daryl was watching her from a distance as she pulled back the strings on a compound hunting bow. She turned her head to him and gave him a wink. He stared at her with him mouth open slightly.

“Now who would da knew tha' she coul' hunt. The two of yall shoul' go huntin' in da mornin'. See if you can get us some meat.” Merle said to his brother.

“Yea whatever” scoffed Daryl.


	3. Chapter 3

Rayne woke up the before the sun came up. She couldn't sleep, she was haunted with dreams about her family and friends being eaten alive and turning into those things. She was sweating even though it was kinda cold out. She closed the car door quietly so that she didn't wake anyone up. She saw Dale on top of the RV so she whistled to him. 

He turned around looking with his gun raised and then saw it was Rayne, “Oh good morning my dear, you scared me. What are you doing up so early?”

“I don't think walkers can whistle but I'm sorry for scaring you. I can't sleep anymore, to many bad dreams. I think I might go and try to catch us something to eat.”

“You cant go alone! Please bring someone with you. What about your boyfriend, Daryl, is it?”

“Ha, yeah right, he ain't my boyfriend, Dale. I got lost and ended up on his front lawn. He did save my life though. I won't go alone old man I promise.”

She took off back toward her car. She was watching the ground but when she looked up there was a redneck sitting on her car. He looked like he just rolled out of bed. She stopped in her tracks for a moment then continued to walk toward him. 

He was holding her bow in his hands, “Ya know how ta use this thing or what woman?”

“Yeah, actually I do, redneck, why you asking?”

“Wha' I tell ya 'bout callin' me that!”

“Shhh, damn it Daryl, people are still fucking sleeping. I'll stop calling you a redneck, when you stop calling me woman.”

“Whatever, look I'm going hunting. You can come with but ya best not slow me down or scare away my kill.”

“Now your talking my language Daryl. When we going?”

“Now, ya ready?”

“Hell yeah!”

They went out hunting with each other every morning for over a week. People were starting to settle down at camp. There was Lori and her son Carl. He was a cute kid, always asking about her tattoos. Him and Sophia were always hanging around each other. Sophia's parents were Carol and Ed. Ed was a real scum bag. Rayne always saw him sitting around on his fat ass while Carol was doing all the work. Then there was Jim, Jacqui and Glenn. Glenn was a short Asian kid, he was really sweet but talked too much for her liking. There was Dale who owned the RV. He was a nice old man who picked up Andrea and Amy, sisters, along the way. Morales and his family, their kids were very sweet but they didn't talk much. Then there was Shane, She didn't like him much. He had a creepy way about him that made her uncomfortable. She stayed away from him as much as possible. Plus he was a cop and she didn't do very well with the police. 

Rayne would spend her days in the woods hunting with Daryl and her nights around a small fire with the Dixon boys. They would share bar stories, then Merle would be a pig and tell her that he wanted to make her scream his name. She would roll her eyes and tell him to fuck off. They all had a lot in common even more than the boys knew of. She would show them scars from bar fights and they would show theirs to her. Rayne and Merle got along better than she ever thought. Yes, he was high all the time and a sexist pig but if you push all that aside he reminded her of her family back home. 

It was early dawn again and Daryl tapped on her car window. He opened up the car door when she didn't get up. He noticed that she her blanket was wrapped around her upper body, which let her lower half hanging out. She was wearing tiny black shorts that her nice round ass was hanging out of. He tilted his head to the side to get a better look but only for a minute. He shook her leg and this time she stirred but still didn't wake up. He didn't wanna yell at her so he crawled into the car over top of her. 

He looked at her for a minute before he spoke, “Rayne, hey Ray time to wake up. Come on girl git ya ass up.”

“mmm Daryl, don't stop.”

Was she dreaming about him? He watched her run her fingers through her hair and let out a soft moan. He couldn't believe what he was seeing or help the grin that spread across his face now. She was fantasizing about him. That would boost any mans ego a bit. He smacked her on the ass and her eyes shot open. 

She fell off the back seat and onto the floor board, “What the fuck are you doing in here Dixon. Jesus fucking Christ you scared the shit outta me. Did you just smack my ass?”

“Ya well judging by that dream you was havin' I fig'red you wouldn't mind.”

Her eyes grew wide and her face went bright red, “Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me! Get outta my car Dixon so I can put some fucking pants on. I'll meet you outside in 15.” 

“Make it 10 or I'll leave ya behind.”

She grabbed her pants and threw them on. She grabbed her boots and got out of the car. She sat next to Daryl on the tail gate of his truck. He watched her put her boots on and noticed that she had a few blisters on her feet. The bottoms of her sock were stained with blood but not a lot. Why didn't she tell him that her feet hurt? He knew that she was tough but she should have said something. Rayne had become his friend over the past few days. They would fight and cuss at each other, then go hunting. He never had a real friend before, especially not one that was a girl. Someone that he could be around that would make him feel better. Merle wasn’t around when Daryl was growing up. He was either locked up or beating the shit out of him. His father was the same way. She asked questions about his past but he never answered her. He was snapped back to reality when she hopped of the tailgate and pulled her shirt up to button her jeans. He saw what looked like a tattoo peaking out from the top of her panties. He caught himself staring at the black laced fabric. 

“Stop gawking Dixon. It's like ya ain't never seen a pair of panties before.” 

“It's been awhile”

“Aw you poor man.” She pushed out her bottom lip to give him a pout. “Maybe if you weren't so mean all the time, one of these nice young girls would show you a good time.”

“Maybe I don't want them girls.”

She looked at him for awhile trying to read him. He had a look of hunger about him this morning. She spent most of her days with him but never saw him look like that before. It was an interesting look and she liked it. 

She pulled her shirt back down and said, “Come on ya big horny hick, lets go kill something.”

They took off into the woods and started on their normal path. Daryl picked up some deer tracks and they both got excited. There was only so much squirrel a person could eat before everyone got sick of it. After a few hours they stopped to rest. 

He looked over at her, “So ya wanna tell me what ya was dreaming 'bout this mornin'?”

“Nope. That's for me to know and for you never to find out.”

“Whose bein' mean now.” Daryl said to her. 

She rolled her eyes at him. She jumped off the rock that she was sitting on and bent over to pull her hair up. She bent over in front of him on purpose because she liked to push his buttons. There wasn't a lot of entertainment anymore so she had to make up her own fun. Pissing Daryl off was enough fun for her. She liked to make him flustered. Most people didn't talk to Daryl much, she thought they were afraid of him and his temper but not Rayne. With the way her past was she wasn't threatened by hot headed rednecks. She was starting to enjoy his company. She liked being out in the woods again. It brought back good memories of when she was younger and hunting with her dad. 

So after another hour of walking around the woods they couldn't find the deer they were tracking but Rayne came along a huge rabbit. She stopped and bent down so that it wouldn’t run off. She drew back her bow and took a deep breath in, then released. She shot it right in the spine and it went down instantly. Daryl came up behind her without her even knowing it. 

He said, “Tha's a damn nice shot girl.”

“Holy shit Dixon did you just give me a compliment! I think the world might be coming to an end.....oh wait it did!”

“Ya well don' get fucking used to it.”

“You know Daryl, you don't have to be so mean all the time. Its just the two of us out here. I'm not here to judge or hurt you. You don't always need to have your guard up around me.”

It wasn't that Daryl wanted to be mean to her, he just didn't know how to deal with any kind of feeling other than anger. It's easier to just get angry and push people away then have to deal with the bullshit. Truth be told, Rayne scared him. She didn't judge him, no matter how mean he was to her she would still come around him. There weren't a lot of people that could put up with the Dixon boys. That was apparent with the other survivors. They wouldn't approach them unless they had to. Not with her though, she seemed to enjoy his company. 

“This shit ain't a game girl, this shit ain't fun. This is survival! I ain't here to make friends. I'm doing what needs to be done to keep me and my brother alive! Why you keep coming out here with me anyway?!”

She was hurt by his tone and statement. She would never let him have the pleasure of seeing that though. She tucked that hurt away for now. She turned to look at him. She knew that he saw the hurt in her face. 

“Don't you think I fucking know that by now. I got nobody Daryl, at least you still have your brother and he is alive. All my family is dead or walking around half dead. I'm trying to survive here too, I just thought that maybe I wouldn't have to fucking do it alone. OH and by the way......You invited me out here with you. Your the one that woke me up this morning!” She grabbed the rabbit, threw it at him and stormed off. She made her way back out of the woods only to bump into Dale. 

“Where's Daryl?”

“I don't know and I don't fucking care Dale. Maybe he will get eaten by a walker and then I can put a fucking arrow through his stupid redneck head!”

She headed toward her car grabbing a towel and bathing suit that she had packed. She headed to the quarry. She changed under her towel behind a rock. She saw Dale on top of the RV keeping an eye on her. She took her clothes and tried to wash off the dirt and grime that had been building up over the past few days. She walked into the water which was freezing cold but felt so good in the blazing sun. She had to get her mind off him. She was so pissed that she was trying to be his friend and all he did was push her away. She could understand why he did because she did the same thing with people. It just felt different when someone did it to her. She swam a few laps till her legs burned. It had been awhile since she got a good work out in. Stripping wasn't the most glorious job but it sure was one hell of a work out. Her body was still toned but she was starting to slim out more. She didn't like that but with the lack of food around, there was nothing she could do about it. 

She headed toward the shore and wrung her hair out. She grabbed her towel and dried off. Sitting on the bank she let a few tears fall. She hated crying, it made her feel weak. She told herself a long time ago that she would never be weak again. 

 

Daryl was trying to take his mind off what had happened but he knew that he hurt her. Why did he keep asking her to come with him every morning? They could gather more food with two people hunting but was that the real reason? He did like spending time with her though. She didn't talk a lot and when she did it was usually to fight with him. He sighed and threw a rock. He began to head back toward the camp. 

He tossed the rabbit near Merle who was sitting in his chair high as a kite again, “Wher'd she go, Merle?”

“She ain't my bitch, how da hell should I know.”

“Hey Daryl.” Dale's voice called from atop the RV. Daryl looked up in his direction and saw the old man pointing toward the quarry. He nodded to him and took off after her.


	4. Chapter 4

Daryl headed down the path to the quarry. Once he got closer he could see her sitting on her towel near the bank. He didn't notice that she was wearing only a bathing suit at first because he was just relieved that she was alright and didn't get eaten by a walker. She had her back to him and her legs curled up to her chest. He watched as she held her head in her hands. Was she crying? As he got closer he could hear her sobbing quietly. 

He stopped when he heard her say, “What do you want Dixon?”

“How'd ya know it was me?”

“A squirrel may not be able to hear you coming but I sure can.” Her face curled into a small smirk. She wiped her face and stood up. 

“What ya doing down here anyway?” He asked her.

She stood up to face him and cocked her hip to the side. She raised her eyebrow and said, “What the hell does it look like I'm doing? I just thought that I would walk around in my bathing suit for no fucking reason.”

“Look whose being mean again. You talk about me having my guard up, look at you! You always got some smart ass comment to hide the fact that you aint nuttin' but a scared lit'le girl!”

“Fuck you Dixon! Ya you're right, I am scared! At least I can admit it though. Can you say the same?” She pointed at him in anger. 

“We don't have time to sit around and talk about our god damn feelings. There are walkers all over this fucking hell hole.”

“Trust me, I'm the last one that wants to do that. All I want is for you to open up a little. I just want to get to know you, is that so hard to believe? What's so wrong with me? Am I not good enough to know who Daryl fucking Dixon really is?” 

“Ya it fucking is Rayne! Why do you even wanna know?”

At this point she was so frazzled and confused so she started yelling even louder, “Did it ever cross your mind that maybe I fucking like you, you crazy fucking hick!”

They both stopped yelling and just watched each other. Daryl couldn't believe what he just heard. She likes him? “You wouldn't if you did.”

She moved closer to him, “How do you know that Daryl? Maybe I would. You open up to me and I'll let you ask me anything you want. Shit I'll tell you my whole fucked up life story if you want.”

“Fine but take it slow alright.”

She started to walk back to camp and when he didn't follow her she said, “Ya comin' or not?”

He was busy watching her ass but nodded after he got caught. They walked together in silence back to his tent. She went to the car to go change into normal clothes since it was sundown and starting to get cold. She put on a pair of yoga pants and her Guinness hoodie. 

When she went over to see Daryl and he threw a tent at her, “Here”

“Thanks Daryl.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Merle was sitting in his usual spot so Daryl put his ' I'm a bad ass face' on since Merle was within listening distance. She scowled at him but knew how boys were. 

Merle looked up at the two of them, “So did ya fuck and make up?”

He was such a fucking asshole sometimes. Rayne looked over at him then to Daryl. She stood in front of Daryl pressing her body to his. She put her arms above her head, around Daryl's neck and told Merle, “Wouldn't you like to know. But if we did he would probably be smiling.”

Daryl stood there stiff as a board in both senses of the word. She could feel him pressing against her. She saw the smirk that Merle had on his face but then he passed out again in his chair. 

She turned around and looked up at Daryl, “Does he do that a lot?”

“Yeah.”

She saw that he couldn't look her in the eyes anymore so she backed up. He helped her set up her tent then they went to join the others for dinner. Daryl sat on a log and she came up to sit next to him on the ground. He looked at her like he was going to ask her if she wanted his seat but there were people around so she knew that he wouldn't move. She didn't mind though as long as she was close to him. The more they hung around each other the safer she felt. Everyone was talking about going into the city for supplies. Morales, Andrea, T-Dog, Jacqui and Glenn were the ones going into the city. Then Merle came over to join the rest and he also volunteered to go with them. I don't think that Daryl liked him leaving but he wasn't about to say anything. We all finished up dinner and I stayed back to help Lori with the dishes. She was a kind woman but very defensive at times. She kept looking over at Rayne like she wanted to say something. 

Finally she said, “So some of us have noticed that you and Daryl hang out a lot.”

“Yes....and?”

“We were wondering if you two were together?”

“No he isn't my man if that's what your asking. I was on my way down here to see a friend from college who was hosting an art show, when I got lost as hell. I turned down a dirt road and knocked on a door that just happened to be his. He actually wouldn't help me at first and told me to fuck off.”

Lori was silent but had her mouth open in surprise.

“My car started to act up and was low on oil so I traded him a carton of cigarettes for oil. Then I had the wonderful pleasure of meeting Merle. He was a real peach let me tell you. Then Daryl saved my life from a walker. We have a lot more in common then he knows.”

“That's a crazy story Rayne. Daryl seems fine by me but that Merle gives me the creeps.”

“He is a pig, yes, I will not deny that but he is nothing compared to what I've seen. Merle Dixon is a saint compared to some of the scum bags that used to come in the club.”

She looked over at her trying to figure out what kind of club that she was talking about. Then she realized what kind of club. “So you're... I mean you were a stripper?”

“Yes ma'am. I was also a tattoo artist during the day. I miss it a lot actually.”

She stopped talking for awhile after that and they finished up. She went back to her tent and noticed that her bag of clothes and a blanket was now inside her tent. She smiled to herself and shook her head. Just then she heard footsteps outside. “Hey can I come in?”

“Of course Mr. Dixon.”

He ducked in the tent and zipped it half way. His hair was wet and his face was clear of all the sweat and dirt. He sat down on the floor next to where her blanket was. She sat down on the blanket and pulled her hoodie off. She was wearing a tight black tank top. Daryl looked at her then looked away.

“Why do you keep looking away? Do I look that bad? You're going to give me a fucking complex.” She knew what she was doing, she just wanted to get a rise out of him.

“No it aint tha'. It's jus' kinda distracting.”

She smiled a wicked smile and put her hoodie back on. Then looked over at him, “Better?”

He rolled his eyes but nodded. He just sat there with her and watched her pull out a sketch book out of her bag. She thought that maybe if she didn't pay attention to him he would talk to her. She was right.

“So where did you work before all this Jersey?” He asked her.

“So is that my new name? I guess its better than woman. If you want to know, you have to guess.”

“I hate guessing games...were you a waitress?”

“Nope”

“A teacher?”

“Nope”

He named off a few more but still couldn't guess. By this time he was leaned back on his elbow finally relaxing. 

“I don't know, jus' tell me”

“I was a tattoo artist and shop manager during the day at least.”

He locked eyes with her and she was in a daze with his beautiful blue eyes. They were intoxicating, she could stare at them all night long. 

“So what did you do at night?” He asked with a slight flirtatious tone. 

“That's not how this works Dixon. Now it's my turn to ask you a question. When was the last time you got laid?”

“Oh come on” he scoffed. She looked up at him from her book but he sighed and continued, “A few months I guess”

“No wonder you're always so angry! There is no way in hell I could go over a month. I get crazy if I don't get off at least once a week.”

“An' you call me horny”

They actually sat there and laughed together for the first time. They talked about the supply run into the city tomorrow and how Daryl knew that Merle would come back in one piece. 

“I think we should get some sleep.” He laid down next to her and put his hands behind his head.

“What do you think your doing?”

“Sleepin'” He looked over at her with only one eye open.

“In here? With me?”

“Yea tha' a problem?”

“No I guess not.” She shrugged. 

She leaned over and kiss him on the cheek, her hair fell off her shoulder and into his face, “Goodnight Daryl.”

His eyes locked with hers and his heart started to beat faster. He wanted to kiss her, she looked so beautiful. 

He whispered to her, “G'nigh Jersey”

She turned off the light and laid down. It took her awhile to fall asleep with him laying so close to her and his smell filling the tent but after awhile sleep took over.


	5. Chapter 5

Rayne stirred and rolled over to find the space where Daryl was sleeping empty. She opened up her eyes to make sure that he was really gone. The tent was still filled with his smell. It was a musky scent with something else that she couldn't place. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. She figured since Daryl was no where to be found that he had gone to bed after she fell asleep. She stood up and stretched since sleeping in her car and on the ground wasn't helping her back. She stuck her head of of the tent. The sun was just starting to rise. The faint light of dawn was enough for her to see that people were still sleeping and Dale was on watch again. He looked over in her direction nodding 'hello' and giving her a wink. She wasn't sure what that was about but she shrugged it off. She saw Daryl over by his tent helping Merle pack his stuff. He was up early today. It seemed unlike Merle to get up that early but he must be itching to get out of camp. She walked back in her tent to change. She figured that when Daryl was done helping Merle that he would want to go out hunting like normal. The days were getting hotter so she dug in her bag for a pair of shorts. All she could find was a pair of jeans that she had cut really short. Maybe they were a little too short for the end of the world but who cares, its hot as hell out in the woods. She found a black halter top that had 'Slayer' written across it. She emerged from the tent with her boots in hand. She nodded to Daryl and Merle as she walked over to Daryl's tail gate. 

Merle said to Daryl, “I sure am gonna miss tha' ass while I'm gone.”

Daryl just shook his head. Rayne tied up her boots and walked over to the Dixon boys. 

“G'mornin darlin'.” said Merle.

“Good Morning Merle. Be careful out there alright.” she said to him with a smile.

“Don't worry darlin' ain’t not fucking walker gonna get me.”

Daryl looked over to Rayne and said, “Make sure you got a blanket and enough supplies to stay in the woods at night.”

“What?! We are sleeping out in the woods tonight?”

“Ya damn right we are, girl. I ain’t coming back without that deer.”

She walked back to her tent and grabbed her back pack. She put a blanket and other supplies into it. Rayne walked out of the tent and over to Dale. Who had climbed down from the RV.

“Hey Dale”

“Hello Rayne. What can I do ya for?”

“Daryl and I are going out again. He doesn't want to come back without a deer we have been tracking so don't go sending a search party out if we don't come back tonight.”

“You think that's a wise idea? Being alone in the woods with Daryl Dixon?”

“He isn't as bad as everyone thinks he is, Dale. Don't be so quick to judge. If I didn't think I was safe then I wouldn't be going out there with him. Just don't worry too much old man ya might give yourself a stroke.”

Dale chuckled and gave her a hug goodbye reminding her to be careful. Rayne headed back to the Dixon boys. She gave Merle a quick hug goodbye and he grabbed at her ass while she did. 

She pushed him away, “Your such a pig, Merle”

“Oink oink baby doll.”

Daryl nodded to his brother as him and Rayne disappeared into the woods. Daryl watched Rayne walking in front of him admiring her tiny, cut up shorts. 

He almost walked into her as she bent down and picked up fresh deer tracks, “These are fresh tracks.”

“Well then, let's go kill us a deer, Jersey.”

They tracked that deer for miles before they rested on a ridge. They were looking out over the Atlanta sky line and saw clouds rolling in.

“Looks like they are gonna get a 'lil wet out there.” Rayne noted. 

“Yeah, probably”

 

Meanwhile back at camp...

Rick Grimes had finally joined the others and reunited with his wife and son. Which happened to be Lori and Carl. Everyone sat around a small campfire talking about what happened in Atlanta. After Rick had finished his story Shane scolded Ed for putting another log on the fire. Shane was the kind of man that when he felt threatened he would strut around with his chest puffed out. 

It was Dale that spoke up first, “Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy to hear that his brother was left behind.”

T-Dog spoke up and said that it was on him because he dropped the key. Rick also added that he was the one that handcuffed him to a pipe on a roof. 

Glenn spoke up, “Guys it's not a competition. I don't mean to bring race into this but it might sound better coming from a white guy.”

The option of telling Daryl a lie was brought up but quickly thrown out. Merle was out of control and endangered all of them. Dale was concerned that when Daryl and Rayne came back that Daryl would lose it. “Word to the wise, we are going to have our hands full when they come back from their hunt.”

Shane looked at Dale very concerned, “They?”

“Yea, Rayne went with him this morning like they always do.”

Lori was worried as well and said, “Why aren't they back yet?”

“Rayne came to me this morning and told me that they weren't leaving without bringing back a deer they have been tracking. She told me not to worry if they didn't come back tonight. I think that she can take care of herself. Daryl saved her life. I don't think he is going to hurt her.” Dale told the group.

 

The sun had set and it was getting darker by the minute. Daryl found a huge rock, he cleared out the space near the base so they could light a small fire for warmth. He rested his crossbow against the rock, Rayne did the same with her bow. He told her to stay behind while he gathered wood. She sat against the rock and lit a cigarette. She took a long drink from a water bottle that she packed with her. Daryl returned and began lighting a small fire. They didn't talk much while they were out hunting. When he was finished he sat down beside her. She handed him her pack of cigarettes and her lighter. She knew that he didn't have any on him. 

She watched him as he smoked until he spoke, “What you staring at, Jersey?”

“You, is there a problem with that?” she said to him, in her usual sassy voice. 

“Guess not. Ya think they're gonna send the search party out for ya when ya don't come back tonight?”

“Nope. I already told Dale that we might not be back tonight.”

“I bet he didn't like that idea. You all alone out in the woods with the mean, angry redneck.”

“I don't care what they think. They can talk all they want. I know what I'm doing. Besides you ain't as mean as people think you are.”

Despite the fire, Rayne was starting to get really cold. She grabbed the blanket out of her backpack. Then she realized that she only had one blanket. She looked over at Daryl, who was wearing a sleeveless shirt like everyday. He looked cold but would never say anything about it. She thought for awhile and then crouched down in front of him. She took the blanket and wrapped it around him. He wanted to protest that he was a man and didn't need a fucking blanket. Before he could say anything she put her hands on his knees and spread them apart. She sat between his legs with her back pressed to his chest. 

“What are you doing?” he began to protest. 

“Keeping both of us warm. I know you don't like me being so close to you but I'm freezing my ass off.” She pulled her hair away from her neck so that it wouldn't get in his face. It probably wasn't a good idea because she could feel him breathing down her neck now. It sent shivers down her entire body. 

Then he spoke to her but because they were so close all he did was whisper into her ear, “I nev'a said I didn't like it.”

He heard her catch her breath as he whispered to her. He could see her chest rising and falling faster than before. He couldn't help but feel good that he was causing this reaction from her. He grabbed the corners of the blanket and wrapped his arms around her. He rested his elbows on his knees and continued to breathe down her neck. 

He felt her body shiver and again whispered into her neck, “Still cold?”

Her breathe caught in her throat again and this time it wasn't silent. She knew that he heard her this time. She couldn't control her body as she arched her back and pressed into him harder, “You're breathing down my neck Daryl.”

He smiled an evil grin and knew exactly what he was doing to her. Maybe it was time for her to get a does of her own medicine. “Don't like getting a dose of your own medicine do ya?”

“Oh my God Daryl you have to stop that. Your driving me fucking crazy.”

He smiled and took a strand of her hair that she had missed. He traced up her neck lightly and tucked it behind her ear. “Now ya know how I feel.”

She turned her head to look over her shoulder at him, “Wait...What?!”

He pressed his head to hers and whispered only inches from his lips, “You think that you don't drive me crazy too. The way you sway your hips when you walk. The way you look at me with those eyes. The way you kissed me that day. What really drives me crazy is the way you bite your lip and twist your lip ring around.”

She couldn't help but bite her bottom lip despite what he just said. She never had someone talk to her like that before. When she asked Daryl to open up she never expected him to be so bold. 

She heard him growl low and deep in his throat. “Yea just like that. Now knock it off.”

She adjusted herself sideways in his arms. She reached for the back of his neck and pressed her lips to his. He grabbed the side of her face under her jawline. Her tongue caressed his bottom lip and he groaned into her mouth. He parted his lips to deepen the kiss. He wanted nothing more than to rip her clothes off and make love to her right there in the middle of the woods but Daryl wanted to take this slow, he didn't want to fuck it up. He felt the metal bar through her tongue rubbing against his own tongue. He reached into her hair and grabbed a handful. She moaned and pulled back breathing heavily. His eyes were locked on hers so she kissed him quickly and said, “Goodnight Daryl”

She curled up into his chest and listened to his rapid heartbeat. He wrapped his arms around her tighter and rested his head on top of hers, “G'nigh' Rayne”


	6. Chapter 6

Everyone back at camp was up and starting their day. Lori was hanging clothes on a line when Rick woke up. Shane pulled up in his jeep and gave everyone water. Just as Rick was starting to talk to Lori about leaving Merle behind there was a scream coming from the woods. Everyone ran to see what was wrong. Some of the guys grabbed shovel and guns. Lori could hear Carl calling for her. Everyone took off into the woods. Lori grabbed Carl and Sophia and took them off to the side. The guys were pointed into the direction of a walker that was chewing on a deer. The deer had three arrows stuck in it. The walker was too busy eating to hear the guys behind him. He looked over his shoulder and noticed that there was fresh meat waiting for him. It went after Rick and he whacked it in the head with a stick. Everyone took turns hitting it until it finally went down. Dale took an ax and with one powerful swing he chopped its head clean off. 

“They never come this far up the mountain,” said Dale. 

Jim added, “They're running out of food in the city.”

There was a snap of a stick. Everyone expected to see another walker come out of the woods but got a surprise when they saw Daryl. He got a scare as well when he saw that Shane had a gun pointed a him. “Son of a bitch! Tha's my deer!”

Rayne came out of the woods to find everyone standing around staring at her. “Hey! I shot it first so that's MY deer.”

Daryl looked over at her and narrowed his eyes and smirked at her for a second. Long enough for her and only her to notice.

“Loo' at it. All gnawed on by this...filthy, disease-bearing, motherless, poxy fuckin' bastard!” He kicked it with every word. Absolutely pissed off that he didn't get to his deer first. 

Dale looked at him, “Calm down son.”

Daryl got up in Dale's face, “Wha' do you know 'bout it old man. Why don't you take tha' stupid hat and go back to 'On Golden Pond'. Been tracking this fuckin' deer fir miles.”

Rayne cleared her throat and putting her hands on her hips, “Don't you mean WE have been tracking that fucking thing for miles. I pull my weight around here too Dixon.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Was gonna cook us up some venison. Wha' do you think? Think we can cut around tha' chewed up part righ' there?” Daryl asked Shane.

Shane spoke up, “I wouldn't risk that.”

“Tha's a damn shame. Well, we got us some squirrel. 'bout a dozen so that will have to do”

Suddenly the head of the walker that Dale hacked off came back to life. Daryl took one look at it and said, “Come on people wha' da hell!” He lifted his crossbow and shot it through the eye. He retrieved his arrow from it after it was good and dead. “It's gotta be the brain. Don't y'all know nothin'.”

Daryl started to head back toward camp. Rayne followed right behind him looking at the new guy as she passed by. She caught up with him and walked beside him. He looked down at her and gave her a small but quick smile. Daryl's smiles weren’t like how other people smiled. The corner of his cheek would move but that was enough for Rayne to know what he was doing. Daryl called for Merle as he got closer to the RV. He called him again but still Merle didn't answer. Rayne looked around and saw that the expression on everyone's faces were changing. 

Shane came up to Daryl and said, “Daryl, just slow up a bit I need to talk to ya.”

“Bout wha'?” he asked.

“Bout Merle. There was a...uh a problem in Atlanta.”

The entire camp fell silent. Daryl looked over at everyone and Rayne could see him putting up his guard again. She looked at him and she could see the sadness in his face. 

He asked Shane, “He dead?”

“We're not sure” said Shane.

“Either he is or he aint”

The new guy came forward and walked past Rayne. “There ain't no easy way to say this so I'll just say it.”

Rayne spat, “Who the fuck are you?”

He looked over to her and then to Daryl, “Rick Grimes”

Then it hit Rayne that he was Lori's husband and Carl's dad. From what she had heard, Lori's husband was in a coma and dead in a hospital. Daryl mocked his name. She could see the anger starting to well up inside of him. Daryl was like a wild animal. Ya best not get too close or he might bite. 

“You got sumthin' you wanna tell me?”, said Daryl.

“Your brother was a danger to us all. So I handcuffed him on the roof to a piece of metal. He's still up there.”

The Rayne saw a side of Daryl that scared her and made her sad all in the same moment. He walked away and started to pace around. He wiped a tear from his eye then began to speak, “Let me process this. You sayin' ya handcuffed mah brother to a roof and you fucking LEFT HIM THERE!”

The anger in Daryl came spilling out of him with a fury. He threw the string of squirrels at Rick and tried to go after him. Shane tackled him to the ground. Daryl pulled his hunting knife from the sheath. Rayne jumped into the mix too. There was no way she was going to let some new guy come in here and hurt Daryl. Daryl took a swing with his knife at Rick but missed. Shane grabbed Daryl from behind and put him in a choke hold. She ran back to her bow and pulled back the string aiming it right between Shane's eye. 

Daryl stated, “Choke holds illegal.”

“Yea well file a complaint.”

Rayne took a step toward Shane and yelled, “Get the fuck off of him Shane or I swear to God I'll stick this arrow between your fucking eyes!”

Rick came over and asked to have a calm conversation with Daryl. He looked over at Rayne and asked her to lower her weapon. She looked between him and Daryl and did as she was told. 

“Now what I did was not on a whim, your brother does not work and play well with others.” Rick explained to Daryl.

T-Dog explained that it wasn't Rick's fault. Apparently he was the one that dropped the key down a pipe and lost it. She bent down at Daryl's side and tried to lift him up but he pushed her away. 

He walked away saying, “If tha's supposed to make me feel better, it don't.”

T-Dog explained again that he chained the door with a padlock so that the 'geeks' couldn't get at him. 

Daryl wiped another tear from his face yelling, “Da hell with all y'all. Jus' tell me where he is so I can go get em.”

Rick told Daryl that he was going back into the city with him to get his brother. As Daryl stormed off, Rayne looked at everyone and said, “What the fuck is wrong with you people. That's all the fucking family he has!”

She stormed off after Daryl to find him inside the tent he shared with Merle. She didn't ask to come in she just lifted the flap and walked in. She saw him on the floor with his head buried in his hands. She crouched down next him and put her hand gently on his back. He jumped back like he was afraid that she was going to hit him. She knew that look because she would do the same thing with her dad. He was crying and feeling weak. She tried to touch his face but he smacked her hand away. Rayne was a persistent woman so she tried again and this time he didn’t resist. She wiped a tear from his cheek and then he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. He buried his face in her chest and tried to compose himself. He didn't want anyone to see him like this but with Rayne it was different. She kissed the top of his head and told him that he would get him back safe and sound. He pushed her away just enough to get her to move. She knew that he needed to be alone for awhile so she kissed his cheek lightly and walked out of the tent. 

She walked to her tent and packed her bag again. This time it wasn't just a hunting trip. She grabbed a hunting knife and 9mm from her car and walked over near the RV to wait for Daryl. She was getting her gear together when Daryl came out of his tent and joined her. They just looked at each other. She could see that he was shut down. His face was nothing but anger but a calm kinda anger. 

Shane and Rick were arguing about him going into Atlanta after he had just gotten back to his family. Shane said, “Why ya going back for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?”

“Hey, choose your words more carefully.”, said Daryl.

Rayne pulled her knife from it sheath as Shane looked to them and said, “Oh no I did, douche bag is what I meant. That man wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dieing of thirst.”

Rick told Shane that it didn't matter if he would or not. The part that was important was Rick couldn't leave a man to die on top of a roof from thirst and exposure. They left him up there like an animal and he didn't think that any human being should die like that. He didn't know how to navigate the city but he knew that Glenn did so he was coming along as well. T-Dog volunteered to join the growing party. 

Then Rayne spoke up, “I'm coming too”

Daryl stood up and started to pace again, “Oh no, Jersey you ain't comin'.”

“Ha, the hell I ain't Dixon. Your brother may be the biggest asshole I ever met in my whole damn life but he ain't ever done wrong by me. No human deserves to be handcuffed to a fucking roof. Besides, we can do more damage with two silent weapons instead of one.”

She saw his face calm down as he looked at her. It really meant a lot to him that she was willing to risk her life for Merle. He then realized that people were looking at him so he walked off toward the box truck, “Fine! Whatever!”

Rayne looked over to Glenn and he asked her, “Is he always like that with you?”

“Not all the time. One thing I have learned from hanging around the Dixon boys, is you just have to let them be pissed off. Eventually they calm down and come the their senses.” 

She jumped in the back of the box truck with Daryl. He saw everyone still talking so he kicked the horn and yelled, “Come on lets go!”

He paced the box truck a few times. Rayne went to grab his arm but he pulled away from her, “Daryl, please calm down.”

“No I will not calm the fuck down until I get Merle back. Just leave me the fuck alone, bitch.”

Her eyes grew wide as she heard those words roll off his tongue. She was hurt but would not let him see that. Everyone piled in the truck and they headed off to the city. She didn't talk to or look at him the entire ride. When the truck stopped Daryl opened up the back and jumped out. He offered Rayne his hand and for a second she wanted to push him away but she knew that this was his way of saying that he still cared even though he was angry. She slung her bow over her shoulder and took his hand. He helped her down even though he knew she didn't need it. Glenn looked over at the both of them and gave Rayne a half smile. They went through a hole in a chain link fence. Glenn stated that Merle was closer so they would go after him first. 

Rick hung back so that he and Rayne could be introduced properly. “I'm sorry about before. I'm Rick. Do you think we could start over?”

“My name is Rayne but apparently Daryl calls me Jersey so either one will do. It's nice to meet you Rick. All is forgiven on my end.” 

When they entered the department store Rick signaled that there was a walker on the other side of the store. Daryl stalked over to her and raised his crossbow, “Damn. You are one ugly skank”

He fired a bolt right through her head and it dropped. He went over and retrieved his bolt from her head. 

They made it through the store and up the stairs to where the door was chained and padlocked just like T-Dog said. Rayne tried to get in front of Daryl but as soon as that padlock was cut he went bursting through the door. 

They both called out for Merle but when they came around to where Merle was, Daryl cried out, “NO! NO! FUCK!”

She came up behind him and saw Merle's bloodied hand just laying there next to a hacksaw. Daryl cried out and paced back and forth. He didn't know what to do at this point. He was so lost. All Rayne could do was just watch in horror at the sight before her. 

She grabbed at Daryl to try and hold him, “No! No baby don’t look”

“Get the fuck off me!” The tears streamed down his face as he push her away from him hard. She fell back and hit the rooftop with a thud. Her head bounced off the corner of the stairs. She blacked out instantly and her body was motionless. Rick, Glenn and T-Dog ran over to her. When Daryl noticed that she wasn't moving, he freaked out. He shoved them out of the way so he could get to her. 

He lifted her in his arms and said, “No, No, No! Wake up Rayne! Wake the fuck up! Don't you fucking leave me!”


	7. Chapter 7

Rayne could hear Daryl yelling at her. She finally came to and held her head with her hand. She looked up at him and his eyes were full of fear. She knew that he didn't mean to push her like that but it was a heat of the moment thing. 

“Aw what the fuck, Daryl.”

He just looked down at her and stood up. He paced back and forth then raised his crossbow to T-Dogs face. 

Rayne shouted to him, “Daryl stop! That shit ain't helping.”

Rick pulled his out his gun and stuck it beside Daryl's head. Rayne drew back her bow and pointed it a Rick. 

Rick said to Daryl, “I won't hesitate. I don't care if every walker in the city hears it.”

Rayne said to Rick,“Yea well you wont make it back to your wife if you do pull that trigger.”

Daryl was surprised that she was sticking up for him still even though he tossed her aside like a rag doll. He knew that killing T-Dog wasn't going to bring Merle back so he lowered the crossbow. Everyone else followed suit. Daryl looked over to T-Dog and asked if he had a dew-rag. T-Dog pulled out his bandana and handed it to him. Daryl walked over to where Merle's hand was. 

He starting to talk, “I guess the saw blade was too dull for the hand cuff.” He pick up the hand by the finger and looked it over saying, “Ain't tha' a bitch”

He wrapped it up neatly and carefully and placed it in Glenn's back pack. Glenn was not happy with the idea of toting around a severed hand. Daryl examined the area and spoke up again, “He must have used a tourniquet or something. Maybe his belt. There would be much more blood if he didn't.”

Rayne was walking around the roof and picked up a trail of blood leading away from where the hand was. She was still kind of dazed from the blow to the head but worked through it. This wasn’t her first blow to the head. She looked over to Daryl without saying a word to him. She was still pissed that he threw her down. She pointed down to the blood and he nodded at her. They followed it down a staircase which lead into offices. The followed the hall way till they came to a room with two dead walkers on the floor. 

Daryl said, “Had enough in him to take out these two sons of bitches, one handed. Toughest asshole I ever met, my brother. Feed him a hammer and he'd crap out nails.”

“Any man can pass out from blood loss no matter how tough he is”,said Rick. 

Daryl would call out for Merle but Rick reminded him that we were not alone. They continued to follow the trail until they came upon a gas stove. There were 4 of those things you see stuck under a buffet tray. Rayne didn't know what the hell they were called and she didn't really care. She picked up an old iron and noticed that there was burnt skin still attached to it. Glenn asked what was all over it. 

 

She turned around and looked at him saying, “Skin”

Glenn looked like he wanted to puke. Rick took it from her hand and said that Merle had cauterized his stump. 

Daryl came up beside Rick and Rayne and said, “Told you he's tough. Nobody can kill Merle but Merle”

Rayne rolled her eyes and grunted. Daryl headed toward a broken window. 

Rick said to him, “He's lost a lot of blood Daryl.”

“Yea well that didn't stop him from busting out of this death trap”

He noticed blood around the broken window and figured that Merle had jumped out. Glenn came over to look out the window as well ,“He left the building? Why the hell would he do that?”

“Why not, he is out there all alone for all he knows. He is doing what he's got to do. Surviving.”

T-Dog looked over at Daryl, “Ya call that surviving? Just wondering out in the streets passing out. What are his odds out there?”

Daryl snapped his head and looked over to T-Dog, “No worse than being handcuffed and left to rot by you sorry pricks.”

Rayne spoke up in a nasty voice,“That's for damn sure”

Daryl looked to her for a second then over to Rick, “You couldn't kill 'em. I ain't worried about some dead bastard.”

Rick explained that he understands Daryl being upset about losing Merle. He knew what it felt like to be alone and not know where you family is. He went through hell trying to find Lori and Carl. He said that if we were going to search for Merle then they needed to go after that bag of guns. He didn't feel safe running around the streets with no guns. Daryl agreed and they walked off and into an office so they could regroup and figure out a plan. Rayne sat on top of a desk across the room from Daryl. She wanted him to stew about what he did to her. She knew that the best way to piss him off was to ignore him. Daryl kept looking over at her but when she would catch him he would look away. 

Rick spoke, “You're not doing this alone.”

“Even I don't think it's a good idea and I don't even like you much”,said Daryl looking over to Glenn. 

“It's a good idea okay, just hear me out. If we go out in a group we're slow, drawing attention. If I'm alone, I can move fast.”

Glenn took a few office items that were laying around on the floor and used them to explain the plan. He wanted to take Daryl into the alley with him. Then he put Rick and T-Dog in an alley two blocks away in case he got stuck and had to double back. 

As Glenn looked over to Rayne as she cut him off, “Well you can add me to that list boys. I'm going down in the alley with you.”

Daryl pushed off the desk to protest but she held up her hand to him before he could speak.

“Daryl don't. I know you don't like it but I don't give a shit. I'm going with you.”

He narrowed his eyes to her and sat back down on the desk. He looked over to Glenn after taking a deep breath,“Hey kid, what did you do before all this?”

“Delivered pizzas. Why?” ,said Glenn looking around at everyone wondering why he was getting asked that question. 

The three of them made their way down the ladder that led into the alley. They hid between two dumpsters as Daryl loaded his crossbow. 

He looked to Glenn and said, “Ya got some balls fir a chinamen.”

Glenn shook his head and replied, “I'm Korean.”

“Whatever.”

Glenn took off out of the fence and out of sight. Daryl looked over to Rayne a few times before he got close to her and asked, “Ya head alrigh'?”

“Yea but I think I might have a mild concussion. Looks like your punishment is to keep me up.....all night long.” She said with a wink and a sultry voice.

He smiled briefly at her and said,“Oh now that I can do darlin'.”

They heard foot steps coming down the other end of the alley. They ducked behind the dumpster. When they got closer Daryl popped out over the dumpster and saw a young Spanish boy. The boy threw his hands in the air and told Daryl not to shoot. Daryl asked if he had seen his brother who was hurt real bad. The boy called out 'help me' in Spanish. There must be more people with him. Daryl hit him in the face with the butt of his crossbow and took him to the ground. The boy started yelling. Daryl tried to keep him quiet yelling at him to shut the fuck up. Rayne went over to the fence where Glenn had left out of. As soon as she got to the fence she was shoved out of the way but two big Spanish guys. Glenn had reappeared and handed the bag of guns to Rayne. 

She started yelling at the two men,“Hey get the fuck off of him!”

They turned to look at her when they saw that she was the one holding the bag of gun. They ran after her yelling 'take it', 'take the guns'. The big bald guy slugged her in the jaw but she still fought back. Daryl shot the guy that hit her right in the ass with an arrow. Glenn was hit too and brought down to the ground and kicked a few times. A car pulled up and another man grabbed Rayne from behind and threw her into the back of the car. She called out for Daryl kicking and screaming. They drove off and left a cluster of walkers behind them. 

Daryl panicked and ran toward the fence yelling, “No! Rayne! Come back here!”

Daryl had to close the fence as the walkers tried to get at him. Rick and T-Dog joined them now. T-Dog helped Glenn to his feet. Daryl went after the boy with a fury he never felt before. He was upset about Merle but the pain he felt from losing her was unbearable. He was supposed to protect her and keep her safe. 

Rick held Daryl back as he started yelling at the top of his lungs, “I'll kick your fucking nuts up into your throat!”

“What happened Daryl?”, asked Rick.

“They took her! They took Rayne, him and his homie friends. They took my fucking girl! I'm gonna fucking stomp your ass.”

Everyone took off up the ladder as Rick went to get the bag of guns and his hat that Glenn had grabbed for him. When they got back into the building and sat the boy down in a chair. Rick walked over to the boy as Daryl paced around like a caged animal. 

Rick asked the boy, “Those men you were with, we need to know where they went.”

T-Dog asked Daryl,“What the fuck happened man?”

“I told you, this lit'le fucker and his douche bag friends came out of no where and jumped me.”

“You're the one who jumped me punto, screaming about trying to find his brother like it's my damn fault.” said the boy.

“They took Rayne, they might have taken Merle too.” Daryl explained.

The boy laughed and said, “Merle? What kind of hick ass name is that? I wouldn't name my dog Merle. That girl you were with on the other hand, she is a fine piece of ass.”

Daryl ran at him but Rick intervened and held him back, “If your boys so much as touch her I'll fucking kill you. She aint jus' a piece of ass.”

Daryl tried to kick him but Rick told him to back off. Daryl tried to calmed down, he walked over to Glenn's back pack and pulled out Merle's severed hand, “Wanna see what happened to the last guy that fucked with me?”

He threw the hand in the kid's lap and he freaked out. He jumps out of his chair and lands on the floor. Daryl runs at him again and got in his face, “This time I'll start with the feet.”

Rick pulled Daryl off the kid and tries a calmer approach, “The men you were with took our friend. We just want to work something out.”

The group was lead to what looked like an abandoned warehouse. They scoped out the area before entering the compound. 

Daryl told the boy, “One wrong move and you get an arrow in the ass, just so you know.”

“G's gonna get that arrow outta my ass and stick it up yours, just so YOU know.”said the boy. 

Rick asked who 'G' was and the boy explained that he was in charge. His name was Guillermo. Rick looked to the group and said, “Okay, lets go see this Guillermo.”

When they approached the doors opened and a small Spanish man walked out. He must be G, thought Rick. He asked if the young boy was alright and he told G about them cutting off some dudes hand. That they showed it to him and how they were going to cut his feet off. Daryl told the boy to ' shut the fuck up'. The two men that took Rayne came out and stood next to G. The bald guy that Daryl shot in the ass pointed a gun to his face. His name was Felipe. Felipe told G that Daryl shot him in the ass and that they should just shoot them and take the guns away from them. 

Rick said to G, “It was the heat of the moment. Mistakes were made on both sides.”

Daryl asked G while staring down the sights of his crossbow, “You got my brother in there?”

“Sorry fresh out of white boys. But I got a fine ass white girl, you interested?”

“Yea I'm fucking interested. Now give her back!” Daryl's voice was full of anger.

“Oh she must be your girl then. Well I'll tell ya man, you got your hands full with that one white boy. I didn't think that she was into hicks.”

Rick spoke up, “We have one of yours and you have one of ours. I think we have a fair trade.”

G told rick that he wanted his bag of guns. Rick told him that the guns didn't belong to him. That they were his guns that he left behind. Rick motioned up to T-Dog who was looking down the sights of a rifle that was pointed right at G's head. G then called up to the roof. Three people appeared on the roof one of them with a bag over their head. Daryl knew it was her and called up to her. They removed the bag from her head. They had duct taped her mouth shut but she screamed what sounded like Daryl's name. 

Daryl looked back down to G who told them to come back with his guns or come locked and loaded and see whose side spilled more blood. 

They back tracked to the office where Rick left the guns. Rick told the group that they should head back to camp. 

“I'm not fucking leaving without her!”

Everyone agreed with Daryl that they weren't going to leave without bringing back Rayne. Daryl asked if Rick was going to give up all the guns. Rick looked at him and as he loaded a shotgun and said, “Not exactly”

They went back to the warehouse but when they opened up the doors they went inside. The doors closed behind them. 

G came forward and addressed Rick, “I see my guns but there not all in the bag.”

“That's because there not yours. I thought I mentioned that. You told us to come back locked and loaded.” Everyone cocked their weapons and started pointing them at Guillermo's people. “So here we are.”

Just as they were ready to blow each other apart an elderly woman come out from the back calling for Felipe. She was saying that someone was having an asthma attack and needed his medicine. G yelled for Felipe to get his grandmother out of here. She saw the new group of men and asked why they were here and what was going on. 

She looked over at Rick and said to him, “Please officer, don't arrest my Felipe. He is a good boy.”

Rick lowered his weapon and told the old woman, “Ma'am I'm not here to arrest you grandson. He is helping me find a missing girl. A girl named Rayne.”

She looked at him and her face lit up, “You mean the pretty girl with the tattoos? I know where she is. Come, come I show you.”

She took rick by the hand and led him to another building. As they were walking down the hallway they could see the old and sick in different rooms. They were being cared for by Guillermo's Vatos as he called them. She led them to what looked like an auditorium. 

Daryl caught sight of a full figured girl with long black and red hair. His heart skipped a beat all over again. He was so relieved that she wasn't hurt. He just stood there waiting for her to see him. She turned around and saw Daryl in the doorway. She said his name quietly to herself and took off running to him. Daryl passed his gun the Glenn. She almost knocked him over when she jumped into his arms. She wrapped her legs around him as he held her ass with one hand and his other was tangled into her hair. Her arms were around his neck so tight he could hardly breathe but he didn't care. She was back where she belonged and needed to be, by his side. He knew that he had feelings for her now. 

She looked at him and said, “I knew you would show up. I knew that you wouldn't let me go that easy.”

“Damn girl, I can't let you out of my sigh' for a second can I?”

“Nope.”, she said to him with a wink. They both noticed that everyone in the room was starting at them so he put her down and they backed away from each other feeling a little embarrassed. They all left the building and headed back to where they parked the box truck. Rick left a few guns with Guillermo and his men. Rick was a good man and wanted to help out anyone he could. 

Daryl made Rayne walk in front of him so that he could keep an eye on her. 

She looked over her shoulder and asked Daryl, “Why do I have to walk in front of you Daryl?”

“So I can keep my God damn eyes on you plus I like lookin' at ya ass.”

“Oh Jesus Christ, Dixon.”

Glenn chimed in, “It's not a bad view”

Daryl gave Glenn a death stare and told him, “Watch it, chinaman.”

Glenn threw up his hands in surrender. Since Rayne was out in front of the boys she said, “Where the hell is our truck?”

“I left it right there. Who would take it?”,said Glenn. 

Rick looked over to where the truck was parked and said, “Merle”

Daryl then said, “He is gonna be taking some vengeance back to camp.”


	8. Chapter 8

Everyone ran back to camp as quick as their legs would carry them. There heard gunshots and screaming the closer they got to camp. Even though Rayne's legs burned she ran faster than ever before. She had to get to camp to make sure that everyone was alright. When they got into camp there were walkers everywhere. Rayne kept close to Daryl as they both took down every walker they came to. Daryl was using a shot gun instead of his trusty crossbow. Rayne switched over to her 9mm. She had always been a good shot when it came to guns. Her dad had taught her well. At least something he taught her finally paid off. After all the walkers were taken down she stood there in a daze. She couldn’t believe what she was looking at. Amy was dead and so were a few others from camp. Not anyone that she talked to on a regular basis but it still broke her heart to see the all the dead laying around her. Daryl came up to her side and put his hand on her lower back. She clung to his shirt for fear that she may start to lose her footing. Lori and Carol gathered the children up around the main campfire. They were going to put them in the RV but because Amy was was laying in front of it. Lori thought it would be better for everyone to stay away in case Amy got back up.

Rayne sat down on the ground outside her tent. Daryl came and sat beside her not saying a word just sitting next to her. Rick walked over and asked to look at her head. 

He looked to her, “You might have a mild concussion but I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Daryl, you are going to have to watch over her tonight. Your going to have to wake her up every few hours.”

Daryl looked at him and asked, “Why me?”

“Because your the one that threw her down.”

“I don’t think that I'll be able to sleep anyway but thanks Rick”,said Rayne.

Rayne and Daryl sat there together for a long time not saying anything just watching everyone. Most everyone in camp had fallen asleep by the time that Daryl started to get up. He went into her tent and grabbed a blanket. He came up behind her and grabbed her by the waist. He pulled her close to him and wrapped the blanket around them. Daryl had built a small fire to keep them warm. He moved her hair away from her neck and watched the glow of the fire dance across her pale skin. They sat the same way they did in the woods that night. He enjoyed feeling her pressed against him. She leaned her head against his shoulder. 

He whispered to her, “Are you still mad at me?”

“I was for awhile but after those Mexicans took me, all I could think about was that I would never see you again. I forgive you Daryl. I cant imagine what your feeling right now. But let's not make a habit of this, OK.”

He ran his fingers lightly through her hair and tucked it behind her ear some more. He took a deep breath and a familiar chill ran up her spine, “I'm sorry I hurt you baby”

“I know you are but don’t worry your going to make it up to me later”,she said with a slight smile. He held her tighter and ran his hand across her stomach. When he spoke to her this time his lips were almost pressed to her earlobe. 

“I usually don’t talk about my feeling and shit but I thought that I was going to lose you. I was so caught up with Merle being gone that I wasn’t thinking clearly. I should have protected you and I’m sorry that I didn’t. I uh um I... I care about you Rayne. I don’t know why cuz I have never really cared for anyone else before.”

“Its not your fault Daryl so let's just forget it for now. I’m fine now and I’m here with you. That’s all that should matter.”

She looked over at him, locked eyes and said, “I care for you too. I'm kinda a loner myself so I understand how you feel more than you know. I get up, go to work, sleep, go to work again, then come home and get drunk. Then I go to bed by myself. Its a very boring life.”

“So ya gonna tell me where ya worked at night or what?”

“Nope, now come on let's go to bed.”

“I like where this is going.” Daryl smiled at her.

“Oh no, your going to have to work a little harder for that.”

“Lets just stay here. I like it and if you fall asleep I’ll wake you up.”

She wiggled against him and put her hands on his thighs. She scratched lightly at his jeans. He was still so close to her ear. He moved his lips to her neck and took a deep breathe on purpose.

“You just like breathing down my neck because you know it drives me insane.”

“Yea that's one reason. Plus I really like watching you squirm. If there weren’t dead people all around I would take you in that tent and make you scream.”

“Oh you think so do ya? What makes you think I can't make you scream. I don’t think you could handle me, Dixon.”

“Don’t test me girl. Ya might get hurt.” He said as he kissed her neck lightly. 

“Mmm Daryl, you have got to stop doing that. Ya gonna wake me up if I fall asleep?”

“Yea now got to sleep.”

Her breathing slowed down after awhile and she finally fell asleep in his arms. Daryl laid her down only long enough to grab Merle's camping chair. He sat down in the chair and lifted her back into his lap. 

Glenn was still awake and saw that Daryl too was still up. He walked over to him quietly so that he wouldn’t wake up Rayne. 

He asked Daryl, “Is she going to be alright?”

“Yea, Rick says that she has a mild concussion so I cant let her sleep too long. I have to wake her up every 2 hours.”

“If you need anything just yell. I wont be sleeping tonight that's for sure.” Daryl nodded to Glenn as he walked away.

 

Daryl woke Rayne up only twice and made sure that she OK. After the light of dawn started to appear he picked her up and set her back into the chair. After awhile a few others woke up and started moving bodies. Daryl took a pick-ax to the head of every walker there was. Glenn and T-Dog would take the body and put it into a pile that they were burning. The issue of Andrea and Amy came up and how Andrea wouldn’t leave Amy's side. Daryl started to get pissed and told Rick that she was a time bomb. Daryl wanted Rick to take the shot and put her out of her misery. “Hell I can hit a turkey between the eyes from that distance.”

Daryl goes back to what he was doing before. He grabs one of the members of the group that was killed and Glenn starts to freak out that Daryl and T-Dog tried to put him on the pile that they had the geeks in.

“We don’t burn them. We bury them”

Rayne was awakened by all the commotion. Rick goes to see if she is feeling better and other than not getting enough sleep she was feeling better. She joined the rest of the group along with Daryl that were still discussing what to do about Amy. Rayne could see that Daryl was getting angry again. 

He yelled, “Y'all left my brother for dead, y’all had this coming.”

“That's not helping Daryl. These people are hurting just as bad as you are.” said Rayne.

“What the hell would you know about it?” Daryl snapped at her again like normal. She could understand him enough now to know that those were empty words and she should let them slide. After everything they talked about last night she thought that maybe he would be a little nicer to her. She also knew that Daryl wasn’t the same person around her as he was around everyone else. He let her and only her see a side of him that he didn’t even know existed. 

Suddenly Jacqui stood up yelling about how Jim got bit by a walker. Shane held Jim so that Daryl could lift up his shirt and everyone one saw a clean bite mark on his stomach. Jim was taken to the front of the RV away from everyone so that they could all talk about it. Daryl went on about doing what needed to be done and wanted to put his pick-ax through Jim's head so that he wouldn’t be a danger to anyone. 

Shane asked Daryl, “Is that what you would want?”

“Yeah, and I thank ya while ya did it.”

Rick went on to say that there needed to be a line. A line between walkers and the group. 

Daryl stated, “Lines pretty clear. Zero tolerance for walkers”

Rayne didn’t pay much attention to what else was said but did hear something about going to the CDC. Shane wanted to go to Fort Benning instead. Rayne was too distracted from watching Daryl. She noticed more and more how she would stare at him. She hoped that no one else caught her because then she would look like a creepy stalker. Just then Daryl took off after Jim with his pick-ax raised high above his head ready to end him right there. 

She yelled, “Daryl! Stop it!”

He froze in his tracks at the sounds of her sweet voice now filled with fear. Rick caught up with Daryl and pointed his gun to his head saying, “We don’t kill the living”

Daryl looked back at him and said, “Tha's funny coming from a man that just pointed a gun to my fucking head.”

Rayne came into view between Daryl and the barrel of Rick's gun. She told Rick calmly, “Back the fuck off Rick. Unless you want to shoot me to get to him.”

Daryl and Rayne took off to clean up the rest of the bodies. They wrapped the bodies of the dead in sheets and tarps and threw them in the back of his truck. Amy was one of them after Andrea put a bullet in her head after her had come back a walker. She felt bad for Andrea, she wouldn’t know what to do if she had to do that to someone she loved. They got into Daryl's truck and took off up the hill to where Rick and Shane were. There were making some of the graves that Jim had dug bigger. Daryl looked to Rick and said that the bodies should be burned not buried. He wanted to know who was in charge now and what the rules were. Rick replied, “There are no rules”

After they had buried the dead Rayne kept her mind off of it by tinkering under the hood of her car. Anytime she had things on her mind she would get under the hood. It always helped take her mind off things. 

Glenn came up to her and said, “You sure do love that car don’t ya.”

“This is my baby. I built her from the ground up with my own two hands.”

Daryl was surprised to hear that. He knew that she could work on a car but never knew that could actually rebuild one. There was nothing hotter to him than a woman under the hood. His heart started to beat a little faster listening to her talk about how much horse power her motor could handle. 

He came over to the where she was and put his hand up on the hood and said, “Hold on now Jersey......you built this thing?”

“Yes I fucking did. It took me years to get her to where she is now. Why does that turn you on Dixon?”

His sexy smirk told her that it did. Dale started to speak to her so she had to tear herself away from his gaze. “I never placed you for a grease monkey”

“Girls cant work on cars too Dale?”

“No it's not that. Its just Lori told me about your previous job and I just never expected you to be into cars as much as you are.”

Glenn looked around at every ones face but stayed silent. 

Rayne told them, “I have always been into cars and getting my hands dirty. I mean look at me do I look like any of these other girls around here? It was something that my father and I could spend time together on when he wasn’t beating the shit outta me.”

Glenn looked at her with a sad face and said, “I'm sorry that happened to you”

“Oh please don’t be. It made a stronger person. I can take a hit like one ones business. Although my dad wasn’t the only one. I think that every man I have ever actually been in a relationship with, beat the shit out of me. I guess I mouth off too much. I have no feeling in my right knee cap and a few busted ribs to prove it. But that’s just to name a few.”

She pulled her knife from her sheath and pressed it to her knee cap, “See, can't feel a damn thing”

Their faces here almost horrified but Daryl’s face was full of anger. Not only because of the men that had hurt her but that he too had hurt her. He didn’t want to be that kind of man anymore. He didn’t want to turn into his father. He could be better than that, be better for her. 

Rayne was still tinkering under her car when Dale said, “You talk about it so openly”

“Yeah, well not that it really matters anymore because they are probably all dead by now. I’m kind of like an open book Dale. If you wanna know something about me, all you have to do is ask.” 

Glenn looked around and asked, “Alright so what did you used to do for work before the outbreak?”

She looked at him and then to Daryl, “Well I was trying to get Dixon to guess it but I was a tattoo artist by day and a dancer by night.”

Daryl knew exactly what she was talking about when she said that. His face curled into a sexy grin but didn’t say anything.

“Oh, you mean like ballet or something?” Glenn asked.

“No Glenn, not that kinda dancer”

She giggled and shut the hood of her car. She leaned against it just staring at him until it hit him.

“Oh um OHH!! I'm just gonna go over there now.” He walked away with Dale all red in the face and embarrassed. 

Daryl whispered into her hair, “So how about a private dance Jersey?”

He grasped at her hip and pulled her back toward him, “Oh don’t you worry Dixon. You'll get one.”


	9. Chapter 9

Everyone gathered in the middle of camp to talk about their plan to head to the CDC. Shane explained that they were going to be on channel 40 for the people that had CB radios. He told everyone that if they needed to stop then they were to hit the horn one time and it would stop the caravan. Morales and his family were not coming along. They wanted to be with their family in Birmingham. Rayne walked over to her car and threw a few things in the back seat. 

Daryl asked her,“I was gonna ask if ya wanted to ride with me but I know your not gonna leave that car behind.”

She smiled at him, “Your damn right about that Dixon.”

“You ride in front of me at all times ya hear me”

“Hmm, yes sir”, she said in a sultry voice and gave him a wink. 

The two of them loaded Merle's chopper into the back of Daryl’s truck. The caravan of cars took off out of the quarry and onto the road leading them to Atlanta. Rayne drove with her arm out of the window and all the windows down. In that moment she was at peace. She loved the wind in her hair, the only thing that would make her ride better would be good music. She knew that it wouldn’t be a good idea since she had a system hooked up in her trunk. It would be too loud and attract walkers in a heart beat. She saw that everyone was starting to pull off to the side of the road. Rayne could see the smoke coming from the RV. 

She met up with Dale and the others and took a look at the engine, “Dale this thing is fucked!”

“Yeah, I know there is only so much duct tape can do. I needed that hose from the box truck.”

Shane and T-Dog said that they would drive and ahead to see if there was something they could take off another car. Jacqui came out of the RV saying that Jim wasn’t doing so good. Daryl and Rayne stood guard while Rick went in to talk to Jim. When Shane came back with a new hose for Dale him and Rick moved Jim to the edge of the woods under a tree. Rick asked him if he wanted his gun but Jim said no. Everyone said their goodbyes to Jim and headed back to their cars. Daryl nodded his head to Jim and then walked away. Rayne stood in the background not saying anything to him. She didn’t handle goodbyes very well so she avoided them all together. The group drove off and headed for the CDC. 

When we pulled up to the CDC it was nothing but a barren wasteland of dead bodies. Rayne took her back pack with her and had her bow at the ready. Daryl placed his hand on her shoulder and nodded for her to go ahead of him. They passed army trucks and barricades. There were dead soldiers all around. Rayne bent down near one checking to see if he was dead. She looked up at Daryl and then pulled his side arm from the dead mans belt. She released the magazine to check the amount of ammo he had. There was another full magazine in his pocket so she took that too. She stuck the other 9mm in the front of her pants. When they approached the doors there were heavy metal shutters pulled down in front of the doors. 

Daryl called out, “Walkers”

Rayne and Daryl stood in front of the group trying to protect them. It was complete chaos, everyone was screaming about how they needed to get out of the city before nightfall, which was fast approaching. Then Rick saw the camera outside the door move. He pleaded for them to help and let them inside. There was nothing for awhile. Lori was pulling him away and just as they were going to head back to the cars the metal shutters opened up with a blinding light. The group stood there in a daze but only for a second before they all scrambled inside. When they all got inside they were greeted by a tall man with a gun. The man asked if any of the group were infected. Rick explained that they did but they left him behind. The man wanted to know what they wanted. 

Rick said to him, “A chance”

“That's asking an awful lot these days.” He said to Rick, to which Rick replied, “I know”

The man looked over everyone and said, “You all submit to a blood test. That's the price of admission.”

Rick said that they could all do that. The man told everyone that if there was anything they needed to grab that now would be the time. He mentioned that once the doors were shut, they wouldn’t open again. Rick introduced himself and the doctor told him his name was Dr. Edwin Jenner. Dr. Jenner spoke to a control panel on the wall to shut down the main entrance. 

The group piled into an elevator when Daryl spoke, “Doctors always go around packing heat like that?”

Rayne shoved Daryl with her shoulder lightly. Jenner answered, “There were some laying around so I familiarized myself.”

They made their way down a long hallway till we came into a large, dark room. When Jenner entered the room he spoke, “Vi, bring up the lights in the big room”

The lights came on to reveal a huge room filled with computers. Rick asked, “Where is everyone? The other doctors? The staff?”

“I'm it. It's just me here” Jenner's face was sad as he spoke to Rick.

Lori asked him, “What about the person you were speaking with, Vi?”

Jenner looked up and said, “Vi, say hello to our guests Tell them welcome”

The computer did as she was told and welcomed the group.

“I'm all that's left, sorry”

Jenner led all of them to what looked like a classroom and began taking blood from everybody. When it was Rayne's turn she sat down in front of him, she didn’t say a word to him but grabbed a pair of gloves. She took the rubber tourniquet from his hands and wrapped it around her arm pulling it tight with her teeth. 

He looked at her astonished, “What are you doing?”

“I know my way around needles. I'll take my own blood thank you very much.”,said Rayne with a smile.

“Were you a nurse?” Jenner looked puzzled.

“Ha, not hardly. I was a tattoo artist but I know how to take my own blood.”

Daryl watched as she found a vain and quickly stick the needle in her arm. She grabbed the vile from Jenner and pressed it to the cap that was at the end of a thin tube so that her blood would fill the vile. When she was done she handed the vile back to Jenner. She took the needle out with a hiss and closed her arm in on its self. Jenner asked if she wouldn’t mind helping him draw the rest of the blood. 

She nodded to him and looked over to Daryl, “Come on Dixon”

“I aint lettin' ya stick me with a needle Jersey”

“It's either me or him” Rayne pointed between herself and Jenner.

Daryl looked over to Jenner then back to Rayne. He signed and sat down in front of her. She smiled at him and wrapped the rubber tourniquet around his arm telling him to make a fist. She looked into his eyes catching his attention. She raised an eyebrow at him and ran her tongue across her teeth, which threw him completely off guard. Then she stuck him. 

He yelled, “Damn bitch that hurt.”

“Oh stop being a baby. It don’t hurt that bad.”

Rayne finished up with Daryl and Jenner was finishing with Andrea. She was feeling weak and almost went down. Jacqui explained that none of the group had eaten in a few days. Jenner led everyone into a dining area with a full kitchen. 

Rayne saw the kitchen and said, “Oh hells yes!”

Rayne went over to the cabinets and started looking through to see what they had. She found a few boxes of pasta and some cans of sauce. Everyone was looking at her as she was dancing around the kitchen all excited. 

“Um you can cook?”,said Glenn

“Hell yea I can cook. I ain’t your average stuck up Jersey bitch. I'll cook a nice Italian dinner so you sit down, shut up and enjoy it”

Daryl watched as she was stating to cook. He couldn’t believe that she could cook too. Is there anything this girl couldn’t do? Jenner said that all he had to drink was wine which I don’t think that anyone minded. 

Rayne opened a cabinet and said, “Oh sweet Jesus thank you! Hey Dixon! Look what I found!

She pulled out two bottles of Southern Comfort. His face lit up like the forth of July. She handed one of the bottles to him and kept the other for herself. He said with a huge grin, “Fuck yea!”

They opened up their bottles and clicked them together and took a long swig. Daryl sat on the counter in the kitchen with her just watching and drinking. She served everyone their plates. A few people tried to come in and help her or get their own plates but she thought that the least she could do was cook and serve them. She cleaned up the counter top and began washing the pots before Daryl jumped off the counter and took her by the hips pushing her out of the kitchen. “Ya done enough, now sit ya ass down and eat girl. Ya getting too skinny for my likin'”

Everyone thanked Rayne for the meal. Lori and the other women said that they would do the dishes and clean up. Daryl joined everyone one else at the table next to Rayne. After everyone ate something, the wine started to kick in. 

Lori asked Rayne, “Ok, so I want to know why your so covered in tattoos and I want to see some of them.”

“Well Missy, I’m an artist so I see the human body as canvas. Let me just put it to you this way Lori. I have self esteem issues so I thought that if I put beautiful things on my body it would make me feel better about myself. I started getting piercings when I was about 14 and I got my first tattoo at 16. It became an addiction for me and I just couldn’t stop. I got my lip done because I thought it was bad ass and I got my tongue done well, I’m sure we can all figure that one out. I have a few more but its really not appropriate to speak of around little ears.”

Glenn chimed in, “Hey Daryl let us know how that works out for ya”

Everyone laughed at Glenn's comment and Daryl told him, “Fuck you”

He was trying to hide his blush in the bottle as he took another swig. 

“No seriously though how do you two know each other?”, asked Glenn. 

Rayne looked over to Daryl and said, “It was completely out of luck. I was headed down to an art show, that a friend of mine was having, with a few of my paintings and got lost. I just happened to show up on his doorstep and he told me to fuck off. I traded him a carton of smokes for oil for my car. Just as I was getting ready to leave a walker came after me. Daryl and Merle saved my life. We parted ways and then by sheer luck we ran into each other again. The poor guy has been stuck with me ever since then.”

He watched her tell the story as he rested his arm across the back of her chair. Daryl noticed how quiet everyone got and he started to feel the heat rising in his face. He looked back at Rayne and said, “Ya sure are a pain in the ass, Jersey”

She raised her eyebrow to him and said, “Fuck you Daryl, you know you love it”

Daryl could feel the alcohol starting to get to his head. Without missing a beat he said her, “When and where babe”

The room erupted in gasps and laughter. Rayne was so shocked that he actually made a pass at her in front of people. It was such a turn on. She could feel her thighs starting to ache at the thought of his body pressed against hers. She gave herself a mental shake but couldn’t look away from Daryl who was leaned back in his chair just staring at her. Glenn was still laughing so hard he almost fell off his chair. 

Glenn went to reach for the wine bottle but Daryl stood up and pushed it aside telling him, “Oh no, not you little man. I wanna see how red your face can get.”

They were all having a good time until fucking Shane had to burst every bodies bubbles by talking to Dr. Jenner about how he was the only doctor left and wanted to know what happened to all the other doctors. Jenner explained how the ones that didn’t leave to be with their families committed suicide. Rayne could see everyone’s faces starting to changed the more Jenner talked. 

Glenn told Shane, “Dude you are such a buzz kill.”

She couldn’t help but speak up, “Yea thanks a lot officer fuck head”

Rayne got up from the table and grabbed her SoCo as she walked out of the room with Daryl and the rest of the group not far behind her. Jenner took everyone down a hallway that had rooms on all sides. He told us to go easy on the power and the hot water. Every single persons face lit up with those words, hot water. Rayne took a room further down the hall away from the others. She stood in the middle of the room so happy that she actually got to sleep in a bed. She dropped her bag on the floor and went to check out the shower. She took another swig from her bottle and walked back into the bedroom. She saw Daryl standing in her doorway leaning against the door frame. 

He had such a sexy and drunken expression on his face. “So where should I put my shit?”

“Who says your sleeping in her with me?” She laughed at him.

“I thought maybe I could convince you.” He slammed the door shut as he slowly stalked across the room toward her. He slowly laced his hands in her long hair and pressed his lips to hers. It was sweet and slow at first until she let a small moan escape her lips. He pinned her to the wall and attacked her mouth. He tasted like cigarettes and SoCo, it was amazing. Rayne moaned as he grabbed a handful of her ass and lifted her into the air against the wall. His tongue tangled and twisted against hers. He loved the way she tasted he just couldn’t get enough of her. He wondered to himself how the rest of her would taste. He felt his erection pressing harder against his jeans. Rayne couldn’t believe how bold and rough he was being. He moved down to her neck and kissed his way down it. She pulled back but still pinned up against the wall. 

She looked at him and said, “Alright I'm convinced, you can spend the night. Just don’t stop what your doing.”

He pressed himself against her harder as she bit her lip and rolled her hips against his. She was shocked when Daryl asked her, “Wanna take a nice hot shower?”

“Together?”,she asked. 

He kissed down her neck again and he said against her skin, “Yea together. Ya gonna be shy around me now?”

“Maybe, what if you don’t like what you see? I have a lot of scars under all these tattoos ya know”

“Trust me baby, I'll like. Ya ain’t the only with scars. I'll take my private dance now though.”

He let her down off the wall and he sat in a chair that was close by. She looked down at him and ran her fingers through her hair. She was so flustered at this point that all she wanted to do was get him in bed. She took her belt off nice and slow and he slumped down in his seat enjoying the view he had. She lifted up the bottom of her shirt just enough for him to see a little skin. He growled and started to bite his thumb. She lifted it up higher and higher swaying her hips in a circular motion. She took off her shirt and threw it in his face. Daryl bit his bottom lip as he watched her move. She unbuttoned her pants and pulled the zipper down really slow. His eyes were filled with pure lust at this point. He didn’t know how much more of her moving like that he could take. She turned around and bent over in front of him. She grabbed at her ankle and felt her way up her leg and over her round ass. She pushed her shorts down slowly till they hit the floor. She stood there in her thong and bra when she reached behind her and unhooked the clasp. She looked over she shoulder as she did and watched him shifting in his seat. She covered her breasts as best she could and turned to face him. She took him by the hand and led him into the bathroom. She shut the door behind him and turned the water on. He took her hand that was covering herself up and removed it. 

He looked her up and down and said out loud, “Damn your fucking beautiful”

She ran her hands up his shirt and took it off. She grabbed at his belt and undid it along with his pants. She pressed her body against his as she guided his hands to her panties and had him remove them for her. She stepped out of them and into the shower with a gasp at the feeling of hot water on her skin. Daryl stepped out of his pants and joined her in the shower. When he stepped into the shower Rayne was running her fingers through her hair. She looked so fucking sexy standing in front of him dripping wet. Daryl took her into his arms and ran his hands all over her body. Pressing her to the wall, his hand trailed down her neck to her chest and took her nipple between his fingers and pinched. She let out a moan which had him ready to cum right there. Their tongues twisted together almost naturally. As Daryl leaned back to look at her she was biting on her bottom lip because she knew it drove him crazy. She looked up at him with her beautiful brown doe eyes. She was the most intoxicating woman he had ever met. His hand moved down her body slowly till he reached between her legs and felt her slick folds, this time she moaned in his ear louder. It had been too long since she had felt a man's touch. Daryl growled into her mouth as his finger entered her. 

“Ahh fuck”,was what she uttered into his neck. 

He teased her only for a minute or two before they actually got cleaned off. They couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Daryl would touch and tease her as she washed herself and she did the same with him. They both wanted to get back to what they were doing. Daryl was shocked when Rayne was done washing she crouched down in front of him. She looked up at him and took him into her mouth. She stroked him with her hand as she bobbed her head on his thick manhood. 

He whispered to her with every stroke of her mouth, “Oh, fuck. Ray I think I'm gonna...”

She didn’t stop what she was doing and after a few minutes she felt him tense up. He tried to push her away but she wouldn’t move. She took all of him as he came into her mouth. She moaned and that made him even more turned on. She stood up wiping her mouth and watching Daryl panting as he tried to compose himself. They both got out of the shower and Daryl took the towel first which left Rayne standing there soaking wet. 

“Ya gonna give me the fucking towel or what? I'm freezing my ass off.” 

He removed the towel from his head and wrapped it around her body as he pulled her close. He kissed her but this time slower. He let his tongue explore her mouth and lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck and ran her fingers through his hair. She bit on his bottom lip hard enough for him to growl at her. Daryl broke the kiss and looked over to see where the bed was and pushed her out of the bathroom and onto the bed. He laid over her kissing his way down her chest. He took her nipple in his mouth and flicked his tongue across it till she whimpered under him. His fingers were exploring her slick folds as she bit her lip trying to keep quiet. She couldn’t take the teasing anymore. She had teased him for weeks and had to feel him inside of her. 

She whispered to him, “I cant take it anymore Daryl, please I need to feel you.”

Without a word he removed his fingers and positioned himself between her legs. He grabbed a hold of himself and pushed inside of her. She gasped at the feeling of him being buried inside her. 

His movements were hard and rough as he whispered to her, “Damn you feel so good” 

Rayne loved ever second of it. She wasn’t into slow and romantic sex. She wanted it hard and rough. Daryl would pull her hair and every time he did she cried out louder. She dug her finger nails into his back till he would hiss in pain. They both knew that they weren’t being quiet and it didn’t bother them. Daryl pulled out of her and before he could move her, she just rolled over on all fours. He entered her again from behind grasping at her hips. Rayne pressed her face into her pillow to stifle her moaning. Daryl pulled back on her hair to lift her face up. He wanted to hear her moan he wanted to know what she liked. She shot him a look over her shoulder and licked her lips. That did him in, he couldn’t take the way she looked at him with those eyes. His pace quickened and became harder as he released himself inside her. They collapsed next to each other on the bed. Rayne laid down on her stomach and Daryl on his back. 

She barely caught her breath when she said, “Now that was amazing!”


	10. Chapter 10

Daryl laid next to Rayne in bed just watching her. He ran his hand up and down her back. He pulled the sheet up to cover them up. They didn’t say much to each other, they were happy enough just looking into each others eyes. After awhile Rayne got out of bed wrapping herself up in the sheet. She walked over and grabbed the bottle of SoCo and lit two cigarettes. She passed one to Daryl as he sat up in bed. 

She started to walk away and Daryl asked her, “'ey where you think your going girl?”

“I gotta pee. You got a problem with that?” She looked over her shoulder at him.

“Guess not”

Daryl took a long, slow drag off his cigarette and replayed what just happened over and over again in his head. He knew that she was a tease but never expected the sex to be that damn good. He ran his free hand through his hair. Rayne came back into the room and he was greeted by a sweet but sexy smile. 

He asked, “What's that smile for darlin'?”

She took a final pull off her smoke and put it out in the ashtray. She dropped the sheet to the ground and crawled across the bed to him. She moved slowly over his body as he laid back down on the bed. 

She flipped her hair back and whispered, “Ready for round 2?”

“Hell yes. But damn girl”

“We might not get another chance to do this for awhile so I want as much of you as I can get.”

“You wont hear me complaining darlin'”

She straddled him and leaned down to lick her way up the side of his neck. She grabbed his manhood and guided him inside her again. She rocked back and forth on top of his body as she ran her finger through her hair. He reached up to grab her breasts while she rode him. Daryl pulled on her hair as she moaned and gasped with every thrust. After awhile Daryl couldn’t take it anymore, he picked her up and laid her down on her back. He took control this time. He lifted her leg so be could push deeper inside her. She lifted her hips and met his every movement. She bit him in the shoulder but not hard enough to draw blood but that sent him over the edge and he spilled into her. After they were done they laid in bed and talked about their pasts. 

Rayne told Daryl about her dad and how he used to use her as a punching bag when he came home from the bar. She would wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of her parents screaming at each other. Even at the age of 8 she knew that she had to protect the ones that she loved and would get in front of her dad so that he wouldn’t hit her mother anymore. She knew that she could handle it better than her mother did. Rayne was a very smart child and learned at an early age, how to lie and be convincing about where her fresh bruises came from. Everyone knew that she was a bit of a tom boy and would play hard so a few bruises weren’t any thing new. It was a lot for a child to handle but Rayne wasn’t like most children, she knew when to keep quiet and when to speak. It made her a stronger woman in the long run but forced her to build up walls to keep people out. She didn’t want people to know that deep down she was meek and scared.

Daryl could relate with her childhood. His wasn’t too different accept he grew up in a trailer in Georgia and his mother left him when he was still very young. He just laid back and enjoyed the feeling of her naked form laying across him. He ran his hand up and down her back as he listened to her talk. He wanted to tell her how he felt but even though he opened up a lot to her he still wasn’t too sure how to talk about his feelings. He lifted her chin when she was done talking and kissed her sweet lips. 

She almost purred against his mouth every time he kissed her, “No one will ever treat you like that again as long as I'm around darlin'. You know I don’t mean half that mean shit I say to you right?”

“Yea I know. Besides every time your mean to me I get to punish you”

“I think I like the sound of that”,said Daryl with a smirk. 

Rayne sat up and pressed her lips to his when there was a knock at the door. Rayne looked at Daryl so confused but she grabbed the sheet from the floor and wrapped it around herself and answered the door. It was Glenn who was looking extremely intoxicated. He leaned his head on the door frame. Daryl was covered up but was sitting up in bed so that he could see who was at the door. Glenn looked at Rayne and then over at Daryl. 

He said, “Sorry to interrupt but can you guys keep it down? You guys are making all us single people really depressed ya know. Plusssss my room is next to yours.”

Rayne couldn’t help but laughed at his slurred speech. “Sorry Glenn, don’t be depressed sweetheart. You'll get laid soon enough.”

Daryl yelled from the bed, “He's just jealous Jersey. Now get outta here before I put an arrow in your ass, boy.”

Glenn walked away and hit the other side of the hallway as he tried to make it back to his room. Rayne was still laughing when she crawled back in bed with Daryl.

“What did you do to that poor kid? He is fucking wasted.”

“He has to grow up and be a man sometime. Now stop talking and get over here. We should probably get some sleep now.”

“Ok fine, Goodnight Daryl.” She said to Daryl with a pout. He chuckled a little bit and kissed her again, “G'nigh' darlin'”

 

The group met in the dinning hall where T-Dog was making breakfast for everyone. Mostly everyone was gathered up accept Rayne and Daryl. 

Glenn sat at the table with his head in his hands saying, “Don't ever, ever, ever let me drink again.”

Rick chuckled and looked around the room to see if everyone was accounted for. He asked, “Has anyone seen Daryl or Rayne?”

“I haven't seen them but I sure as hell heard them, all frigging night long!” Just as Glenn was done talking they both walked into the room. They both had wet hair and fresh clothes. Rayne noticed that everyone was staring at them. 

Lori spoke up first, “Well good morning you two. We heard you guys didn’t get much sleep. You guys need anything for your head?”

Rayne looked over at Daryl who was trying to ignore everyone looking at him but he winked at her. Lori shook the aspirin bottle at them. 

Rayne said to Lori, “Maybe Glenn didn’t get a lot of sleep but I slept just fine. I don’t need anything Lori, but thank you though. I'm Irish, I can drink all night and feel fine the next morning.”

Dr. Jenner came in and everyone was asking him question about what happened. He took all of us into the big room with all the computers again and told Vi to bring up TS-19. There was a video of a human brain on the big screen. As the imagine zoomed in they saw ripples of light and someone asked what they were. 

Jenner started to explain, “Somewhere in that organic wiring, those ripples of light is you....the thing that makes you, unique and human.”

Daryl asked Jenner, “Do you ever make sense, ever?”

Jenner looked over at him and before her could explain Rayne walked up toward the screen and said, “They are synapses aren’t they?” 

Jenner looked over at her and was impressed that she actually knew what they were, “Yes, those are synapses, electrical impulses in the brain that carry all the messages to the brain. They determine everything a person says, does or thinks from the moment of birth till the moment of death.”

He goes on to explain that what we were watching was video of someone that was bitten and infected. They volunteered to have the process recorded and documented. Jenner then told Vi to scan forward to the first event. We watched as the infection spread into the brain. What once was blue now turned black. Then it shut down the brain in which death occurred soon after. 

Jenner told Vi to scan to the second event, “The times between infection can be 3 minutes to 8 hours was the longest recorded.”

Everyone watched and there were small flashes of red light inside of the brain. Rayne looked up and said, “The synapses are firing again”

Jenner explained that the infection restarts the brain stem. It gets them up and moving. “The you part, the frontal cortex, doesn’t come back. It's just a shell.” 

Jenner them told Vi to power down the work stations. Rick asks about communication with other facilities. Jenner told him that all communication went down and that he has been in the dark almost a month. Andrea figured out that it wasn’t just Georgia that was infected, it was all over the world. 

Daryl said, “Man I'm gonna get shit faced drunk, again.”

As he rubbed his eyes with his palms. Rayne smiled at him and didn’t mind the sound of that at all. Dale asked about the clock on the wall. He wanted to know what happened when the clock got down to zero. Jenner told him that its when the basement generators ran out of power. Rick asked Jenner what happened when the generators ran out of power but he didn’t answer. 

Rick asked Vi, “Vi, what happens when the power runs out?”

Vi answered, “When the power runs out, facility wide decontamination will occur”

Rayne kept silent. She knew what decontamination meant but she wasn’t about to share that with everyone else just yet. She didn’t want to cause a panic, she was hoping that maybe there would be more fuel so they could refill the generators. 

Rick, Glenn, T-Dog and Shane go down in the basement to try and find more fuel but find nothing but empty barrels. Various power starts to shut off all over the building. Jenner walks down the hallway by the living quarters dressed in a while lab coat. 

Daryl peaks his head out of Rayne's room with a bottle of SoCo in his hand and asks, “Tha' hells going on? Why'd everything turn off?”

Jenner grabs the bottle from his hand as he walks by and answers, “Zone 5 is shutting itself down”

Everyone follows Jenner and Daryl asks him, “Hey, hey what the hell does that mean? Hey man I'm talkin' to you. What do you mean its shutting itself down? How can a building do anything?”

Jenner told Daryl that he would be surprised and handed him the bottle back. As Jenner started to walk up to the computers, he turned around. He said the French were the ones that were the closest to finding what they thought was a cure. They stuck around the longest when everyone else was running for their lives, they stayed in their labs. When he was asked why they stopped working he told them that they ran out of power and with no power they can't use their labs. 

Rick turned to everyone and said, “Everybody grab your things. We are getting out of here NOW!”

As soon as Rick said that Jenner went over to a number pad and punched in a few numbers. An alarm sounded as the clock hit the 30 minute mark and huge metal door came down on all the exits out of the room. 

Daryl ran after Jenner yelling, “Son of a bitch! You locked us in here!”

Rick demanded Jenner to open up the doors but Jenner explained that it didn’t matter anyway because everything topside was locked down. Rick wanted to know what was going to happen in 28 minutes. Jenner started yelling at everyone that this facility was designed to keep nasty, harmful diseases from getting out. That they protected the public from weaponized diseases. 

Jenner sat down in his chair and said, “In the event of a cataclysmic event or terrorist attack for example. H.I.Ts are deployed to prevent any organism from getting out”

Rick asked what H.I.Ts were. Jenner told Vi to define. Vi explained that there were a type of missile that ignites the oxygen in the air. She goes on to explain that there is nothing that compares to it accept maybe nuclear. 

Jenner adds, “It sets the air on fire”

There was panic on everyone’s faces and the kids were crying. Daryl walked up the ramp and threw his bottle at the door. 

He turned to look at Jenner and yelled, “Open the fucking door!”

Rayne just looked around in complete shock. She didn’t know what to do. She watched as Daryl and Shane grabbed axes and started hitting the door. 

Shane said, “Can't make a dent”

“Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher” ,said Jenner. 

Daryl went after him again saying, “Well your head ain’t!”

There was a lot of back and forth talking between Jenner and the group. Rayne couldn't pay attention, she didn't want to hear anymore about it. She held onto Daryl as hard as she could. She just wanted to be near him. Shane went crazy and started shooting at the computer monitors until Rick took him down. Rayne heard Rick talk about hope and that all they wanted was a chance to try. 

Lori said to Jenner, “Let us keep trying as long as we can”

Jenner looked at everyone's face and then punched numbers into the keypad. The doors opened and before Rayne had time to react Daryl grabbed her by the hand and pulled her behind him. They ran as fast as they could back to their room to collect their things. The rest of the group followed behind them but they were the first ones ready to get the hell out of there. When they came up to ground level Daryl and Shane tried to break the glass on the windows but they weren’t successful. 

Carol gave Rick a hand grenade that she found in his pocket when she washed his clothes. Daryl threw Rayne on the ground and laid over top of her to shield her from the blast as Rick pulled the pin. The window shattered and they all ran out as fast as they could back to the cars. Rayne jumped into her car and when she looked up she saw Andrea and Dale climbing out of the window. They didn't get all the way to the RV before the building exploded and crumbled to the ground. The ground shook from the intense blast. Rayne ducked down as the shock wave passed. Andrea and Dale climbed into the RV and she saw Daryl turn around to make sure that she was alright. The group drove off, away from the CDC and out of sight.


	11. Chapter 11

As they got on the outskirts of the city, Rayne was looking around to see if she saw any gun shops. She honked her horn one time and the caravan stopped. She scoped the area out before she got out of her car and headed to the RV. When she got inside Rick asked her if everything was alright. 

She told him that she was fine then she turned to address Glenn, “Hey isn’t there a sporting goods store around here somewhere?”

“Yea I think there is one a few blocks down. Why?”

“Daryl and I are low on arrows and we could use some more supplies.”

Rick said that we could stop as long as it was just her and Daryl that went in since they both carried silent weapons. Rick handed her a walkie-talkie so that if there was any trouble he would be able to talk to her. She ran back to her car but stopped by Daryl's window and told him the plan. He nodded and she took off back to her car. The caravan stopped in front of the store so that they could keep a look out. Rayne figured that the blast from the CDC would attract every walker within a few miles so they should be safe enough. Daryl and Rayne took off down an alley next to the store hoping that there would be a side entrance into the store, sure enough there was. Daryl checked the door to see if it was unlocked and it was. 

She looked to him and said, “Come on Dixon, lets go shopping”

They entered the store quietly and had a look around. Most of the things were picked over but she had seen worse. Daryl noticed two walkers lurking around but they took them down without a sound. Rayne took off toward the back of the store where she knew they would keep guns and ammo. When she came up on a display case she was greeted by the barrel of a gun pointed right to her head. Daryl raised his crossbow to the person behind the pistol. It was a younger man about the age of 24. He was tall with shaved, dirty blonde hair. An ever younger girl stood up behind him. She was a pretty little thing. With shoulder length dark brown hair. She wasn’t as tall as the man but tall enough for a girl. She was also very skinny but not in a frail kind of way. 

The young man spoke, “What the fuck are you doing in here?”

“We don’t want any trouble dude we just wanted to get some arrows and supplies for our group”

The young man looked over at the girl and then back to Rayne, “There are more of you?”

Daryl spoke as he stared down the man that had Rayne still at gun point, “There are 12 of us. Now git tha' fucking gun outta her face.”

The man narrowed his eyes at Daryl but lowered the gun. He looked them over for a minute then said, “You can have all the arrows you want and I’ll even split the guns and ammo with you an your group but you have to take us with you. We won't survive long out here by ourselves.”

Rayne looked over to Daryl and they had a silent conversation with each other. Daryl nodded to the two strangers and started to fill Rayne's back pack with all the arrows he could find. Most of the arrows he found didn’t come tipped so he had to grab packs of different kinds of arrow tips. He grabbed super glue as well which thankfully was right near the heads. 

Rayne walked away a few feet and got on the walkie with Rick, “Hey Rick”

“Yea go ahead”

“We got people in here. Two young kids in their twenties. They will give us all the ammo and guns but they want to come with us. It's your call, boss man.”

There was silence for awhile and Rayne thought that Rick was talking with everyone else about what they should do about the new people. Then he came back, “Yea bring them along but they have to ride with either you or Daryl. We don’t want them around the kids just yet till I can talk to them.”

“You got it. Is it clear out there?”

“We got three walkers off in the distance so you guys better move it.”

Rayne turned around and said, “Lets move our asses, we have in coming geeks”

The young man grabbed a colt .45 and handed it to the girl saying, “Here take this and don’t be a pussy”

The girl narrowed her eyes at him and came back with, “Fuck you”

Rayne looked over to Daryl and laughed at the two stranger. That sounded really familiar. The young man grabbed a 308 Winchester rifle and a machete for himself. The last thing Rayne grabbed was a new buck knife from the case, she figured that she would need a new one some day. They took off back into the alley and ran to the cars. Daryl flung the guy into his truck and Rayne took the girl by the arm and headed to her car. They started their engines and the caravan took off again out of the city. 

They stopped not too far down the road after they got out of the city, in a small town. They siphoned some gas and Daryl had to leave his truck behind. He wasn’t too happy about it but he and Rayne unloaded Merle's bike from the back. He loaded some of his stuff in the trunk of Rayne's of car. Before they headed back out on the road Rayne went over to the young girl, who introduced herself as Kelsey and that her boyfriend's name was James, and held up her keys. 

Kelsey looked excited and Rayne said to her, “If you smash it or are too hard on her I'll break you face.”

James looked over at her and said, “Hey why can't I fucking drive it?”

“She drives better with a woman behind the wheel. Maybe next time.”

She she started to walk away as Kelsey stuck her tongue out at James and he called Rayne a bitch under his breath. 

Rayne turned around to look at him and said, “You say that like its a bad thing.”

Rayne grabbed her 9mm but left her bow in the car. She walked over to Daryl and he looked up at her with a raised eyebrow, “Ya wanna ride with me Jersey?”

“Hell yes I want a fucking ride, Dixon.”

“Good, now git your pretty li'tle ass on the back and hold on. This beast hauls ass.”

She put her hand on his shoulder and jumped on the back of the bike and wrapped her arms around his waist. Merle's bike had really loud pipes and rode like a dream. Well actually it would be a bumpy and uncomfortable ride for the average girl, but not Rayne. She just loved being on the back of it holding onto Daryl. She tied her hair up in a tight bun and threw her bandana on over it. She loved the wind in her face and the smell of the air. It was far enough away from the city that there was no smell of decay. The freedom of an open road was like the world didn’t end. They drove for awhile and Daryl enjoyed having Rayne on the back of the bike. He relaxed and let his one hand down and grabbed her leg. As they went down the road they came across an over turned semi truck. The caravan started to slow down at the sight of all the cars on the road. Rayne and Daryl took off ahead to see if there was a way through for everyone else. Rayne heard a noise behind her and looked back to see white smoke pouring out of the RV. She tapped Daryl on the shoulder in get his attention and told him to turn around. 

When they pulled up to the window of the RV Dale asked, “See a way through?”

Daryl nodded for Dale to follow him. As Daryl guided the caravan through there was nothing but abandoned cars all over the road. Everyone got out of the cars and started to look to see if there were walkers around. Daryl started to rummage through some of the cars to see if he could find supplies. Rayne followed his lead and started to look through some of the stuff as well. Lori started to go on about how what they were doing was wrong and that this place was now a graveyard. 

Kelsey spoke up before Rayne could and told Lori, “It's a way to survive so just get over it. In case you haven’t noticed the fucking world ended.”

Rayne looked over at Daryl and gave him a look and a slight grin. They finished rummaging though the car and moved on to the next one. The group joined in and started to do the same. T-Dog got some gas cans and a hose to siphon out the gas. Rayne was going to stay behind to see if Dale needed help with the RV. Daryl was going to go search more cars and help T-Dog get gas. 

He said to her, “Ya be careful ya hear”

“I always am.” She turned to walk away from him and got a firm smack on the ass. She looked over her shoulder at him and gave him a wink. As she came up to the RV Dale and Glenn were talking about screwdrivers. Rayne grabbed the screwdriver out of Glenn's hand before he could hand it to Dale. “Watch and learn boys”

They looked over at each other and just smiled. After awhile of Rayne under the hood, Dale told her to let Glenn have a crack at it. Rayne nodded her head and walked off to see if she could catch up with Daryl. Rayne saw Daryl leaning into the trunk of a car looking for supplies. She came up behind him and ran her hands up his shirt. She ran her nails down his back and he groaned at her. She came over to his side and helped him sort through all the clothes. Rayne pulled out a button down flannel shirt so she pulled out her knife and ripped the sleeves off and handed it to him without a word. Daryl opened up another suitcase and came across some lingerie. 

He looked over at her with a raised eyebrow and she looked back at him, “OH no way Dixon. Don’t get any ideas!” 

“Why not? I think you should wear this sometime.”

“Yea well just in case you haven’t notice the world kind of ended so unless you want me to fuck you in front of everyone we might not get a chance for awhile.”

Daryl handed her a piece of black lace fabric that she held up to her chest. She stretched it across her chest and it barely fit. 

She moved closer to him and pressed her breasts against his chest and said, “Besides I don’t think it fits very well.”

“Who said it has to fit. Just take it alright, ya never know”

Their conversation was interrupted by Rick running up the line of cars yelling about how walkers were coming their way. Daryl immediately took Rayne by the hand and took off into the cluster of cars. They hid there for awhile just watching the massive amount of walkers coming their way. Daryl could hear Rayne breathing heavier than normal. He moved his head down to look at her face that she was hiding and got her attention. She looked at him with scared and worried eyes. 

“Ya put your game face on darlin' an everything will be fine.” he said to her.

She just nodded her head at him and continued to steady her breathing. From where they were positioned they could see that T-Dog was starting to panic. He leaned next to a smashed up car door but when he went to slide behind it he cut his arm up really good. 

Rayne whispered to Daryl, “I think they can smell the blood.”

Rayne watched as a walker sniffed the air almost and take off in the direction that T-Dog was, as if it was following the trail of blood. Daryl had taken off right as she had said that to him and stabbed the walker in the base of the skull. He was a master of stealth and could sneak up on almost anyone accept her. She always knew when he was around. It was a feeling she got deep down inside when he was a round, almost like a calming feeling. Rayne came up behind Daryl as he signaled to T-Dog to be quiet. He ran over to T-Dog and laid him down on the ground and threw the body of a walker on him to mask the smell of the fresh blood. When Daryl was done with him he threw Rayne down and put a corpse on top of her too. He grabbed another corpse out of a near by car and joined the others on the ground with a rotting carcass on top of him. The was a huge group of walkers that passed by them as they laid there. Daryl and Rayne started at each other while the hoard passed by them. Daryl didn’t like the look of fear in her eyes that he had to look at. It was in that moment that he told himself that he would never let her feel that way again. He didn’t want her to feel alone or scared. 

As soon as the last of the hoard passed by them they both threw the bodies off. Daryl grabbed the one off T-Dog and helped him sit up. Rayne came over to him and checked out his wound. She wrapped it up tighter since he didn’t do a very good job of it himself. All of a sudden they could see Rick running out of the woods in a panic. Daryl and Rayne carried T-Dog back over to the group to find out that Sophia was chased into the woods by two walkers. Rick went straight up to Daryl asking for his help. So Daryl, Rayne, Shane, Glenn and Rick all went back into the woods. 

Rick took all of them back to the spot in the creek where he told Sophia to stay put which apparently she didn’t. He explained how that once he led the walkers away she was to run back to the highway and keep the sun on her left shoulder. Daryl looked around looking for any sign of which way she might have went. Rayne checked the other side of the bank to see if she took off in the other direction. 

Daryl told Glenn, “Hey short round. Why don’t you step off to the side your muffing up the trail.”

Rayne just shook her head and kept looking around when she heard Daryl say to Rick, “Got clear prints right here. She did like you said and headed back to the highway. Lets spread out.”

He looked over his shoulder to Rayne and she nodded to him. They all took off in the direction that Sophia went. Daryl took the lead instead of Rick and Rayne was off to his side. 

He bent down where he saw clear foot prints, “She was doing fine till right here. All she had to do was keep going. She veered off that way”

Daryl pointed in the opposite direction of the highway where Sophia's tracks were leading. Glenn asked, “Why would she do that?”

Rayne looked up at him and said, “She is a scared little girl. She doesn’t know where to go or what to do”

Shane thought that maybe a walker had scared her off to which Daryl told him, “Nah I don’t see any other footprints.”

Rick sent Shane and Glenn back to the road to keep everyone calm and let them know that they were all out looking for her. Shane said that he would give everyone jobs to do to keep them busy. 

Rick, Daryl and Rayne continued to follow the path that Sophia took. After awhile of following the trail Rick stated, “Tracks are gone”

“There faint but they ain’t gone.”

“How can ya tell? I don’t see anything” asked Rick.

“Ya want a lesson in trackin' or do ya wanna find that girl and get your ass off that interstate?” Daryl snapped at Rick and walked off to keep on the trail. 

Rayne put her hand on Rick's shoulder and said to him, “Don’t worry Rick. Daryl can track anything and everything just let him work.”

There was a snap of a twig which made all three of them drop down at the same time. Daryl and Rayne had their weapons at the ready. They walked together in silence and saw a lone walker just wondering the woods. Rick ran off in front of it to get its attention. He whistled at it and when he did Daryl took his shot and sent a bolt clean through his head. It hit the ground with a thud and he walked over to retrieve his arrow. 

Rayne came up next to him and said, “Nice shot, Dixon”

Rick bent down near the walker and was looking him over. Rayne asked him what he was doing and Rick said, “Looking for skin under the finger nails. It's been dead recently. There is flesh caught in his teeth.”

Rick opened up the mouth of the walker and pulled out a chunk of flesh from between it's teeth. He held it up, examining it and continued to say, “Only one way to find out”

Rick tore the walker's shirt open and pulled out his little knife to gut it open. Daryl stepped in and told Rick, “Here I'll do it. How many kills you skinned and gutted in your life anyway? Mine's sharper”

Daryl pulled out his huge hunting knife and stabs the walker in the gut. Daryl cut in the walker and tore away the flesh so he could get a good look at the insides. Rick couldn't seem to look, his face almost goes green at the stench. 

After Daryl finished cutting he sits back and says, “Here comes the bad part”

Daryl pulls some of the guts out to get them out of way so he can get to the stomach. Rayne looks over and says, “Oh that's fucking nasty”

Rick groaned at the stench and sight of the guts. Rick looked like he was going to throw up. Daryl was elbow deep in walker guts when he said, “Yea hoss had a big meal. I can feel it in there.”

Daryl pulled out the gut bag and dropped it on the ground near Rick. Rick still looked kind of green under the gills so Rayne stepped in and said, “Oh Christ give me the fucking thing and I'll do it”

Rayne took the knife out of Rick's hand and tore into the gut bag. She pulled out some of the contents and then Daryl took the tip of his knife and pulled out what looked liked a rodent skull. Then Daryl said, “This gross bastard had himself a woodchuck for lunch”

Rick looked up at Daryl and said, “At least now we know”

“Yup”

It was starting to get dark out so they started to make their way back up to the highway.


	12. Chapter 12

Carol was waiting by the side of the road when Daryl, Rayne and Rick emerged from the woods. Her face so full of sadness when she saw that they didn’t find her. Rick explained that they were going to pick up the search again first thing in the morning. Carol was so upset that they were going to leave her baby in the woods all alone at night. 

Daryl told her, “Huntin' in the darks no good. We will be trippin' all over ourselves. More people will get lost.”

Carol didn’t like that answer and placed the blame on Rick for leaving Sophia all by herself. Rick told her that he had to lead the walkers away from her so that she would be safe. He told her to run back to the highway. Carol walked away very upset and Rick told the rest of the group that Daryl and Rayne were going to take the lead on the search for Sophia. 

Everyone split up and went their own way. The sun was starting to set and the sky was a beautiful orange color. Rayne sat on the back of her car smoking and talking to Kelsey. She was a very sweet girl but very young. Since Rayne was a lot older than her she took her under her wing. They had a spark of friendship between them despite the age gap. James and Daryl seemed to be the same kind of people although James was more social than Daryl was. As dark fell the rest of the group headed off to the RV. Daryl said that he would keep watch on top of the RV tonight. He climbed on top of the RV and sat in the chair that Dale had put up there. As he was keeping watch he noticed that Rayne was laying on the hood of her car looking up at the stars. Daryl caught himself staring at her again. He seemed to be doing it more often now a days. He just couldn’t help it sometimes. He looked up at the sky and thought about everything that had happened to him. Ever since the day she showed up on his door step his whole life had changed. 

He lived a boring life of working, drinking and hunting. Rayne made his life more interesting and even though the world ended all he could think about was being close to her. He looked forward to getting out in the woods and hunting with her everyday. Those thoughts scared him. He wanted to get close to her but on the outside he didn’t want to let her in. He thought that if she saw the real Daryl that she wouldn’t stick around. Daryl was a kind and gentle man deep down but through out his life he had put up walls to keep people out. Little did he know that Rayne was the same way. Daryl was so deep in thought that he jumped when he looked over his shoulder to see Rayne standing on top of the RV. “I've taught you how to stalk a lit'le too well I think”

“I wasn’t trying to sneak up on ya. You were just too deep in thought to hear me coming.”

“How'd ya know I was thinking?”

“There was smoke coming out of your ears.” Rayne giggled at him and he narrowed his eyes at her. 

He loved it when she laughed like that. She came up beside him and ran her fingers through his hair. He took her by the hand and moved her so that she came to sit in his lap. She leaned against him sitting sideways on his lap. She traced circles on his chest and looked up at him. He was trying really hard to keep a look out but with her touching him it was proving to be harder than he expected. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. She connected eyes with him and purposely flipped her lip ring around with her tongue. She bit lightly on her bottom lip and once again he narrowed his eyes at her. 

He looked away and said, “Fuckin' tease.”

“Yea I know, it's what I do best. So well in fact, that I actually used to get paid for it.”

“Do you miss it?” he asked.

“Dancing or the money?”

“Either one?”

“Well I miss the money yea that's a given but I miss the excitement of dancing and the workout. What I miss the most is tattooing. It was my passion more than my job. I would give anything to lay some ink into someones skin”

Daryl just nodded to her. He told her to go get some sleep and that he would be down with her in a few hours. She didn’t want to leave him up there all alone so she sat down on the roof of the RV next to him. She took her hoodie off and used it for a pillow. She curled up and drifted off to sleep. She knew that with Daryl watching over she didn’t have anything to worry about. After her breathing steadied he reached down and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Good nig't darlin'”

She stirred and moaned softly, “Good night, love.”

Daryl was astonished by her remark. He knew that she was sleeping while she said it but it still was the scariest thing he had ever heard. He didn’t know what to think now. She called him 'my love', does that mean that she loves him? Did he love her? Then Daryl shut down. He did what he was comfortable with and shut out his feelings. If he ignored it maybe it would go away. He finished up his watch and woke up Rayne. She followed Daryl to her car and they climbed in the back seat and laid down together. He didn’t say much to her when she climbed on top of him. She curled up on top of him and laid her head on his chest. Daryl laid there awake for a long time just feeling her body pressed up against his and taking in her scent. He wondered what it would be like if the world didn’t come to an end, would he have ever met her. Then again he shut it down and finally fell asleep. 

 

Daryl woke up with the faint light of dawn coming in through the car. Daryl rubbed his eyes and gently pushed Rayne to wake her up, “Come on girl, time ta git ya ass up.”

“Ohh fuck, come on babe 5 more minutes please.” She rubbed her face into his neck and straddled him completely. Daryl couldn’t help the way his body was reacting but she kept wiggling her body against his. He felt his arousal grow and he gave into her. He looked out the window to see if anyone was awake yet. When he didn’t see anyone he moved her hair off her neck and licked her neck lightly. He ran his hands over her ass and under her shirt, pulling it off of her the higher his hands went. 

She asked him, “What do you think you are doing Dixon?”

“Just stop talking and get naked.” he demanded. 

“Ohh, I like it when you take charge” Just as Rayne was about to remove her bra there was a tapping on the hood of her car. Rayne looked over her shoulder, to see Rick standing in front of her car with his back turned. 

Rayne said, “Oh you have got to be kidding me.”

“God damn it”, said Daryl as he sat up and moved Rayne off his lap so he could get out of the car. 

He met him outside and Rick said, “Sorry to wake you up but I wanted to get an early start on the search.”

“I was awake already. Give me about 15 minutes.” Then Rick saw Rayne getting out of the car with messy hair and her shirt half on. 

She asked, “Hi Rick, is everything alright?”

Daryl looked at Rayne and then back to Rick saying, “Maybe 20 minutes”

Rick smiled at him and patted his shoulder. He said to Rayne, “Everything is fine”

Rick walked away as Daryl pointed for Rayne to get back in the car. She smiled wickedly and jumped in the back seat. As soon as Daryl got into the car he pushed her down on the seat and ripped her shorts clean off of her. 

It was about 25 minutes later when they both emerged from the car to find a few more people awake. Rayne walked with Daryl as she was putting her hair up into a ponytail. She put on a pair of long jeans since she was going to be in the woods all day. She tucked her jeans into her boots as Rick started talking to everyone. 

Rick told everyone that he wanted them to be armed with something that was silent in case there was a hoard near by. A few people took hatchets and knives but Rayne kept her distance and watched. 

Daryl spoke up, “The idea is to take the creek up about 5 miles, turn around an come back down the other side. Chances are she'll be by the creek. It's our only land mark.”

Rick gathered everyone together but Daryl and Rayne take off to get ready. They meet up with James who wanted to come and help look for Sophia too. Kelsey wasn’t too far behind him and wanted to come too. James told her that she had to stay behind and help Lori. 

Kelsey snapped, “I don’t want to help that bitch, plus she is going with you guys to look for Sophia.”

“Then hang out with Dale and be a fucking look out. All I know is ya ain’t going with us.”

“Fine whatever, just come back alive.”

James kissed her on the lips and she walked off. Rayne looked over to James and asked, “How long have you guys been together?”

“Almost 2 years now. How long have you guys been together?” He pointed between Rayne and Daryl. 

Daryl looked up at him and snapped, “We ain’t”

Rayne felt like her whole world was crashing down on her. She was so hurt that he would actually say that. She didn’t know what to think at that point. She knew that they really weren’t dating each other since the dating scene didn’t really exists anymore. She knew that Daryl wasn’t a relationship kind of man and she wasn’t either. But to hear those words come from his mouth really hurt. 

Daryl walked off to join the others and Rayne was left on the side of the road with James. She let one single tear fall from her eye. Daryl looked over his shoulder to see if she was coming, he saw the tear drop off her face. She quickly turned around and walked off. 

She joined up with everyone just as they walked off into the woods. Daryl took the lead and Rayne fell behind to the middle of the group in front of Lori and Carl. She needed to think. She didn’t know how to feel, she knew that Daryl needed to find that little girl. He must feel obligated because he could hunt and track, that he should be the one to find her. She could understand him being upset about not finding her yet but saying what he said was just down right mean. For the first time in a long time Rayne felt alone again. 

Rayne heard Shane snap at Carl. She let Lori and Carl pass in front of her but stood in front of Shane. “Hey officer fuck head, you don’t have to be so mean to him. He is just a fucking kid he doesn’t know what's going on with you and Lori so cut him some fucking slack”

Shane just signed and hung his head knowing that Rayne was right.

With that said she turned around and continued to walk with the group. Rayne saw Daryl slow down and crouch down. He pointed ahead of him, then he looked around to find Rayne. He saw her in the back of the group and whistled for her to come up with him. She looked up at him and everyone looked at her. He motioned for her to come up there with him. She sighed and then stalked quietly over to where he was but not without giving him the finger when he looked away. He pointed to a tent, she nodded and notched an arrow in her bow string. 

As they approached the tent Rick said, “She could be in there”

“There could be a whole bunch of things in there”,said Daryl as he got closer to the tent and told everyone to stay back. He pulled out his knife and put his crossbow on the ground outside the tent. Rick brought Carol over to call out for Sophia. There was no answer after a few times of calling her name. Daryl opened the zipper to the tent slowly but the smell that poured out of there was horrible. Shane and Rick were coughing at the stench. Even Daryl gagged a little bit. Rayne made a disgusting face while gagging only once. She looked away with a face as hard as stone. She went into a meditative state to try and get over the smell. Daryl went inside the tent and found a guy that had blown his brains out. Daryl took the gun out of his hand and heard Carol calling for him. He walked out of the tent and told Carol, “It ain’t her.”

Carol asked him, “Who's in there?”

“Some guy, did what Jenner said, opted out. Ain’t that what he called it.”

All of a sudden there was the sound of church bells. The group took off into the woods. Rayne ran just as fast as Daryl and the other guys did. Everyone slowed down to talk about what direction the sound was coming from but Rayne kept running right past them. She threw her bow over her head, jumped over a log and took off. 

Rick looked up as Rayne ran past and looked over to Daryl, “Damn she's fast.”

“Yea she is”,said Daryl. 

He could usually read Rayne pretty well by now but not today. She was so closed off and he knew why. He knew that he had hurt her once again. He shook his head and took off after her following the sound of the bells. They came to the edge of the woods and Daryl saw Rayne bent down near a grave stone. Shane started to say that it couldn’t be the right church because it had no bell or steeple. Rick didn’t care he ran at a full sprint toward the doors of the church. They opened the doors and found 3 people inside, all of which were walkers. Rayne pulled back her bow and stood by the door. Rick put a machete right through the head of one walker. Glenn handed Daryl his huge hatchet and he went around the side of the pews and called to the female walker like he was calling a dog. He sliced her across the face and she fell to the ground. Shane stuck his knife straight through the eye of the last walker and took him down. Daryl went over to the crucifix that was in the front of the church. 

He looked up at it and said, “Hey JC, taking any requests?”

The bells of the church sounded again and everyone ran outside. Glenn found a loud speaker and killed the power so it wouldn’t attract anymore walkers. The bells were put on a some kind of timer. Mostly everyone headed back into the church. Rayne stood in the back with the others and watched as Carol prayed for the safety of her daughter. Rayne stood far away from Daryl and leaned against the wall, stone faced. Daryl noticed that there was no light in her eyes, no smile on her face which Daryl had grow to love. She noticed him looking at her and he jerked his head over so that she would come and stand beside him. She stood there for awhile contemplating weather or not to go over there with him. She gave in and finally went to him. 

Daryl asked, “Ya alrigh'?”

“Yea I'm fine. Why?”, she said to him without making eye contact.

“Ya ain’t talked to me since we left the road.”

“Maybe I just don’t have anything to say to you right now, Daryl.”

She left the church and went into the graveyard. Daryl looked over to Glenn and James who were standing there trying not to look like they were listening. James just shook his head and looked the other way. 

Glenn said to Daryl, “Dude what did you? I have never seen her cry before”

“God damn it”, said Daryl as he ran out of the church after her. 

He got closer to her and called out to her, “Ray what's wrong with you?”

She turned around with another tear in her eye and told him, “You, Dixon, your my fucking problem! You treat me like shit then you open up and your so good to me. You fuck me, then you act like you don’t give a shit about me. You have fucking issues Daryl. If you really don’t want to be with me then please let me know. If all you wanna do is use me for a fuck buddy than have the balls to tell me to my face. Because for some fucked up reason I really like you. Hell, I think I may even love your dumb ass and I will not be treated like I'm just some other bitch to you. So you tell me right now Daryl! Do you want to be with me or not?”

Daryl just stood there watching her face turn all red as she yelled at him. She looked so damn sexy when she got mad. He knew what he felt for her but expressing it was hard for him. Especially with everyone outside and starring at them now that she was yelling. 

Before Daryl could answer her, she started yelling again, “God damn it Daryl! I'm not looking to get married or have some kind of title here. I just want you to treat me like you actually give a fucking shit about me. So you man up and talk to me or I'm gone!”

Rayne was all flustered again. Daryl had a way of doing that to her. She wanted to walk away from him but she wasn’t about to let him win this battle. She had to stand up for herself and be straight forward with him. She knew that he wasn’t the kind of man to beat around the bush. She had always been straight up with Daryl and she wasn’t about to stop now. When she went to turn her back and walk away she got the surprise of a lifetime. Daryl grabbed her by the hand and lifted her up in his arms. She wrapped her body around his and he kissed her lips. His kiss was as soft as velvet and the most meaningful she had ever felt from him. Even with everyone watching Daryl didn’t care. All he knew was that his girl was going to leave him and he couldn’t let that happen. He had lost her once before and he promised himself that it would never happen again. 

He pulled away from her and said, “You have always been my girl. Since the day you walked into my life you have been my girl. You know I don’t like all that mushy shit. This is me showing you how I feel. This is me showing you that I...I love ya girl. So say you'll stay with me. Be by my side forever or however long we have left.”

“I'm not into all that mushy shit either Daryl. I just want to be treated like I matter. I will always be by your side weather you want me there or not. You really love me?”

“Yea darlin', I really love you.”

“I love you too Daryl Dixon.”

He kissed her again before putting her down and joining the others under the shade of a tree. Rick and Shane told everyone to go back to the creek and keep an eye out for Sophia. Rick and Shane take Carl with them for some male bonding. Daryl didn’t think it's such a good idea to split up but they do anyway. So Daryl, Rayne, Lori, Carol, James and Andrea head back into the woods toward the highway.


	13. Chapter 13

They all headed back toward the highway still keeping an eye out for any sign of Sophia. Daryl and Rayne were walking side by side having one of their silent conversations. They did that more often now that they were in the woods a lot more. A gunshot rang out carried by the wind to their direction. Lori stopped and looked around. She looked back in the direction of the church thinking that it was Rick. 

Lori said, “Why just one?” 

Daryl told her, “Maybe they took down a walker?”

Lori went on to tell everyone that she knew Rick better than that and he would not risk a gunshot to take down just one walker. Rayne knew she was right and could feel something was wrong deep down in the pit of her gut. Lori looked over to her and asked what they should do now? 

Rayne told her, “The same thing we been doing”

Daryl added, “Beat the bush for Sophia, work our way back to the highway.”

There was a silent agreement between everyone but before they could get moving again Andrea started to talk to Carol. Rayne walked off only to get out of the direct circle of people. She was still scouting for signs of Sophia or food. She had to admit that her hunting skills were a little rusty when she first started to go into the woods with Daryl but with each passing day they got better and better. Rayne could hear Andrea and Carol talking about hoping and praying, that’s when Rayne let her mind wander away. She hated talk of prayer and religion. It reminded her too much of her mother and how she would force her to go to church with her every Sunday. She was a very proud Irish woman but when it came to religion she left it alone. 

She caught Daryl out of the corner of her eye walking over to the two women and couldn’t believe what she heard come out of his mouth. “I'll tell ya wha' its worth, not a damn thing! It's a waste of time all this hoping and praying. We're gonna locate tha' lit'le girl and she's gonna be just fine. Am I the only one zen around here? Good Lord!”

Rayne couldn’t help be tease Daryl, “Zen? Really? Since when did you become so zen?”

“I'm trying a new outlook on life. Got a problem with that?”

She started to walk with him but didn’t notice the rest of the group was following them when she said, “Not at all, but I secretly love your mean and angry side too ya know.”

“Oh I know you do”

He kissed her forehead and they continued to walk side by side through the brush. Rayne was kind of surprised that he had kissed her again in front of people but with how the day was turning out she wasn’t really. They have had a few moments where they got so wrapped up in each other that they forgot that people were there. Most of the time it was Merle that was around and Rayne really didn’t mind that too much. She liked to see how pissed Merle would get because he didn’t have a girl always hanging around him. She thought that it was a nice change of pace for the Dixon boys. 

After awhile of walking Daryl stopped and looked over to Rayne, “I think we should call it”

Rayne nodded and then addressed Carol, “We are losing daylight. Lets pick it back up in the morning. Don't worry Carol we will find her tomorrow.”

Carol nodded and then Daryl gave a whistle for everyone to follow him. Rayne had had about enough of his whistling. Rayne picked up a nice sized rock and chucked it at his back saying, “I have had about enough of you whistling at me Daryl. I ain’t your damn dog!”

Daryl stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder at her with narrow but playful eyes. Only Rayne knew that look and that he wasn’t really mad. They rest of the group didn’t and backed up ready for another redneck mood swing. 

He point his finger at her and said, “You quit throwing shit at me. You're a violent fucking woman, ya know tha' right?”

Rayne knew that Daryl wanted to play so who was she to deny him the pleasure. She folded her arms and cocked her hip out saying, “Well I didn’t hear you complaining this morning”

Daryl was beyond shocked at her remark and just stood there as she walked passed him wiggling her eyebrows at him. She smacked him on the ass after she walked passed him. The rest of the group was either trying so hard not to burst out laughing or hide their shocked expressions. Daryl just shook his head and turned around to catch up with her. He had to admit he was slightly turned on by her playfulness. Even with a little girl lost in the woods and the end of the world, Rayne always knew how to have a good time and take his mind off things if only for a few minutes. Maybe that's one of the reasons why he loved being around her. 

After walking for awhile Andrea asked Daryl how much farther it was still they got back to the road. Daryl said, “Another hundred yards as the crow flies.”

Rayne just rolled her eyes at Daryl's southern expression. She knew that expression all too well from hearing it from her family in the south. Her dad's side of the family moved out of Jersey and into Virginia. She used to spend her summers out there when she didn’t want to be around her parents. 

Just as Rayne was thinking about her past she heard Andrea scream. She had walked off away from the group and a walker came out from behind a tree and was going after her. She tried to run but fell over a branch. Just when they were closing in on the walker, a woman came out of no where on a horse. She cracked the walker in the side of the head with a baseball bat. After the walker was taken to the ground the short haired brunette woman asked for Lori Grimes. Everyone looked at each other so confused that a stranger knew Lori's name. 

The woman then said, “Rick sent me, you gotta come now. There’s been an accident. Carl's been shot, he's still alive but you gotta come now! Rick needs you, just come.”

Lori looked over at everyone and then handed her stuff to Carol. Daryl started to yell, “We don't know this girl. You can't get on that horse.”

The woman explained that their farm wasn't too far away. She looked to Glenn and explained how to get to their house from the highway. She told him that the name on the mail box was Greene. Lori and the stranger rode off back into the woods. 

James looked over to Rayne and Daryl and said, “What the fuck?!”

The walker that the woman took down sat back up. Daryl looks over to it telling it to “shut up” as he put a bolt through its head. Rayne shrugs her shoulders and the whole group takes off to the highway. 

When they emerge from the woods they were greeted by Kelsey, “Thank god you guys are back. I don't think that T-Dog guy is doing so good.”

James told her as he kissed her head, “We have been looking for Sophia. Carl got shot and Lori rode off with some bitch on a horse.”

Dale didn't look too happy that Daryl let Lori ride off with some stranger. Rayne gave the old man a dirty look for blaming Daryl. Lori was a grown ass woman and could do whatever she wanted, she didn't need to be babysat. 

Daryl told Dale, “Rick sent 'er. She knew Lori's name and Carl's”

Dale asked about the screaming he heard but Rayne didn't answer him. She left that for Glenn to do, he told him that Andrea was attacked by a walker. The group gathered in front of the RV to catch their breath and collect themselves. Rayne stood next to Daryl as usual putting her hair up high on her head to keep it out of her face. She had a feeling that things were about to hit the fan. When the idea of leaving the highway was presented Carol didn't seem to happy with the idea. Carol didn't want to leave in the event that Sophia might come back up to the highway looking for everyone. Dale explained to her that the group was split up, scattered and weak. Rayne knew that Dale was right they needed to get to that farm and reconnect with Shane, Rick and Lori. 

Daryl spoke up, “Ok, we gotta plan for this. I say tomorrow morning is soon enough to pull up stakes. Give us a chance to make a big sign. Leave her some supplies. We can hold up here tonight, stay with the RV.”

Daryl pointed between himself and Rayne as he was talking. Dale then said, “Well if the RV stays then so do I.”

Carol told them 'thank you' for staying behind. Rayne and Daryl nodded to her at the same time. Andrea, James and Kelsey also said that they would stay behind and help gather supplies. Glenn wanted to stay behind too but Dale told him that he had to go to the farm and reconnect with the rest of “our people”. Those words had a whole new meaning in this new world filled with the dead. Dale continued to explain that the most important job that Glenn had was to get T-Dog there. The cut on his arm has gone from bad to worse. Dale said that he has a very serious blood infection. He told Glenn to take Carol's car and get T-Dog to the farm as fast as possible. As Dale was still talking Rayne could see Daryl looking around. He placed his hand on her lower back as he walked away. She turned her head and watched him walk over to Merle's bike. He moved a dirty rag off the bike, while giving Dale a dirty look, he pulled out a huge bag of pills. 

Rayne's eyes grew wide at the sight of the bag. Pills were always her downfall in life. Rayne used to be strung out for a few years almost as bad as Merle was. She was about 23 when she watched all her friends were settling down, getting married and having babies. She went off the deep end. She would go out to the bars and bring home strange men and have meaningless sex with them in the attempt to fill a void in her life. One night while she was out on a bender she found herself in a dominatrix club. She was offered a job there and since she didn’t care about anything anymore she took it. She worked at that place for about 2 years. She started out as a submissive but after awhile she was told that she would be better as a dominatrix. She secretly loved working there and bending people to her will. 

She was snapped back to reality when Daryl walked by her and told Dale, “Keep your oily rags off my brother's motorcycle.”

He placed the bag on top of a car and dug around. Daryl started talking again, “Why did ya wait till now to say anything. This is my brother's stash, Crystal, X. No don’t need that.”

Daryl threw a bottle at Glenn and told him, “These are some kick ass pain killers.”

He pulled out another bottle and handed it to Dale, “Doxycycline. Not the generic stuff neither. That's first class shit”

Rayne walked over behind Daryl looking over his shoulder. He looked at her with a smirk and said, “Merle got the clap on occasion”

He walked away and she rolled her eyes, “Why does that not surprise me”

 

Rayne helped Glenn move T-Dog to Carol's Cherokee. She could see the worry in Glenn's eyes and she grabbed his face and said, “Don't worry your going to do just fine. Just stay focused and get him to that farm.”

Glenn looked up at her still with worry written all over his face. He said to her, “Thanks Rayne, your a good person.”

“Oh well I try my best dear. Now go!”

Rayne waved to T-Dog as they drove off out of sight. 

 

Night was upon the group as Rayne sat on top of the RV with Dale. She figured that Dale was always on watch so she thought that tonight she would keep him company. Plus it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have more than just Dale's eyes looking out for walkers. Dale and Rayne made small talk quietly to each other. Rayne could hear Carol sobbing inside of the RV. She tried everything to get her mind off of it. She hated to hear people crying. She knew that the best way to help Carol is to get out in the woods and find Sophia but in the back of Rayne's mind there was that uncertainty of not finding her. She could hear movement inside the RV and figured it was just Andrea. She was surprised to see Daryl emerge from the camper. He looked up at her and said quietly, “I'm gonna walk the road. Look for the girl. Wanna come Jersey?”

Rayne smiled and said, “Of course.”

Rayne stood up and made her way down the ladder to join Daryl. Daryl looked up to Dale and said, “Gonna shine some light in the forest. If she's out there it will give her sumthin' to look at”

Andrea came out of the RV and almost ran right into to Rayne. She looked like she wanted to come along but when she saw that Rayne was standing next to Daryl she went back into the RV without a word. Dale called down to the two saying, “Do you think that's a good idea right now?”

Rayne rolled her eyes and said to Dale, “Yes Dale. Don't worry we will be back soon.”

The two of them started to walk to road and headed into the woods. Rayne could tell that Daryl couldn't sleep and that's why he was out walking in the woods in the middle of the night. After awhile Rayne couldn't take the silence anymore. 

She asked, “So do your think we will find her?”

“You got that look on yer face same as everybody else. What the hell is wrong with everyone? We just started looking.”

“Yeah, I know but I still have an awful feeling that we might not find her.”

Daryl snapped at her, “It ain't the mountains of Tibet, it's Georgia. She could be hulled up in a farm house somewhere. People get lost. They survive, happens all the time.”

Rayne rolled her eyes and said, “Very true, but she is still just a little girl Daryl”

“Hell, I was younger than her and I got lost. Nine days in the woods eatin' berries, wiping my ass with poison oak.”

She raised an eyebrow at him and asked, “What happened? How did you get out?”

“Well my ol' man was out on a bender with some waitress. Merle was doing another stint in Juvi. They didn't even know I was gone. I made my way back though, went straight into the kitchen and made myself a sandwich. No worse for wear, accept my ass itched something awful.”

Rayne could help the giggle, just the way that Daryl loved. She thought of a young Daryl with an ass full of poison oak. Daryl stopped and narrowed his eyes at her and she put her hand up and said, “I'm sorry, I'm sorry. You poor baby”

She tried so hard to compose herself as she touched his arm. He just rolled his eyes and said, “Hey girl that shit itched like hell ya know.”

“Yea I know. I've have had it a few times”

They looked at each other and laughed. Rayne just loved that wonderful smile of his. It seemed to light up the entire forest. It made her heart skip a beat every time, without fail. She smiled sweetly at him and he continued, “Well the difference is, Sophia has people looking for her. I'd call tha' an advantage.”

Rayne touched the side of his face as she spoke to him, “I'd call it a huge advantage since your the one looking for her.”

They walked in silence again just enjoying each others company still looking for any sign of the little girl. Rayne looked over to Daryl and said, “For some reason it doesn’t surprise me to hear that Merle went to juvi.”

Daryl looked over at her and just had to ask, “Ya ever been?”

She stopped walking for a minute thought about that question. She continued walking and then started to speak, “Actually yes I have. When I was about 14. I was dared by a group of friends to wake up a cop that was sleeping in his patrol car. I was a really good kid up until then.”

Daryl looked over at her and with a grin he said, “You were a good kid? This story sounds like bullshit to me”

“I assure you it's not. Anyway, I lit an M-80 firecracker and threw it into the patrol car. He wasn't happy with his wake up call. He arrested me and when my dad showed up he was beyond pissed. My dad got most of the charges dropped but I still had to do time in Harbour Fields Juvenile Corrections Facility. It was the worst two years of my life.”

Daryl was shocked to hear such a story from her but he just couldn't help but laugh. She looked over at him with narrowed eyes but laughed with him after a minute. Still laughing Rayne said, “Although the look on that pigs face was fucking priceless.”

“Yeah, I fucking bet.”

They continued their walk sharing stories of their childhoods. Daryl came to realize that they were very alike in more way than one. Rayne shared stories of how her dad used to beat on her and Daryl told her stories of how his dad did the same thing to him. They shared the same emotional damage, maybe that's why they felt such a need to try and push others away. Rayne also told Daryl about her drug abuse problem that she didn't think he would accept that well but he did. She knew now that there was nothing she could've done in her past that he would hate her for. He loved her for who she was. Her flaws were the most attractive things about her. 

As they were talking they heard a noise off in the distance and immediately they put their game faces on. They walked toward the noise and came to a small camping area. Daryl noticed the tree shaking and when he came around to look at it he said, “What the hell?”

There was a walker hanging from a tree branch with a noose around his neck. All the meat had been torn off his legs below the knee caps. Daryl noticed that there was a note stuck to a tree with a knife. 

He read it out loud, “Got bit. Fever hit. World gone to shit. Might as well quit. Dumb ass didn't know well enough to shoot himself in the head. Turned himself into a big swinging piece of bait.”

Rayne walked over to get a closer look at it and gagged at the putrid smell of it and said, “Holy fuck that's nasty.”

She backed away from it and took in the sight of the man that had stole her heart and asked him out of curiosity. “So Daryl Dixon, where did you learn how to shoot so well?”

“Well my guess, the same way you did baby, gotta eat. That's the only thing these walkers and us have in common. This is the closest he's been to food since he turned. Look at 'em, hanging up there like a big ol' pinata.”

The walker was grunting and snarling at the two of them fiercely. He was trying to grab at them even though he was no where near them. You could tell that the need to feed was intense. Rayne looked at the pathetic thing and said, “Looks like the other geeks came in and ate all the flesh off his legs. So we gonna put the idiot out of his misery?”

“Nope. I ain't wasting an arrow and neither are you. Let 'em hang”, said Daryl. 

“Come on Daryl. If you wont shoot him, I will. Either way one of us is going to waste an arrow.”

Daryl looked at her and then to her surprise he said, “Alright I'll do it but you gotta tell me something after”

Rayne looked at him confused but nodded her head. He then continued to say, “Ya gotta tell me what happened to you in Juvi. I saw that look in your eyes, Rayne. Something happened to you in there didn't it?”

As soon as Daryl was done talking he sent a bolt straight through it head and it stopped moving. He didn't want to give her time to say no. He needed to know what happened to his girl. He had seen that look of fear in her eyes once before and never wanted to see it again. He had to know everything about her, the good and the bad. He turned around and looked at Rayne waiting for his answer.

She looked up to the sky for a few moments trying to hold back the tears that were coming. She was flooded by horrible memories of that place. She looked down at him and then said, “I have never told anyone this. Every week for two years straight I was raped, like clockwork, by a guard. It was the same guy every time unless he felt like sharing that week. Everyone knew about it but no one EVER did anything about it.”


	14. Chapter 14

Daryl couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He wanted to find the man that had hurt her and beat him within an inch of his life. But then he remembered that it was the end of the world and he was probably dead already. It wasn’t by his hand so it didn’t satisfy him too much. He just stood there watching Rayne's face change and tears well up in the corners of her eyes. He didn’t want to see her cry so he walked over to her and took her hand in his. 

He gave it a squeeze and told her, “Come on babe, enough talk about it for now. Let's head back to the others and get some rest.”

She nodded at him and without saying another word they were heading back the direction they came. They walked together in silence, side by side. Rayne didn't want to talk about it anymore, but cared for Daryl and there are no guarantee of seeing tomorrow, in this new wasteland.

Rayne looked over at him, “His name was Rob. He had a monstrous look in his eyes. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. It was looking into an empty soul, like looking into the eyes of a killer.” Daryl looked over at her and just let her talk. He didn't want to interrupt her, so he stayed silent. “I have seen that look again. I have seen it in, Shane. He is a killer, Daryl, I just know it. In time he will show us, just you wait.” 

As they came up the road through the maze of abandoned cars they were greeted by Dale. He was sitting on top of the RV, as usual, looking like a worried father. Daryl gave him a sad look and shook his head, letting him know that they didn’t find her. Daryl headed into the RV to let Carol know that they didn't find her. 

Rayne needed to be alone for awhile so she headed off to her car. Usually she would let Kelsey and James sleep in it but tonight they stayed on the floor of the RV. She grabbed her blanket out of the front seat and curled up in the back. She laid her head against the window, just watching the stars. She tried everything not to cry, but it was no use. The tears came weather she wanted them to or not. The memories from that hell hole were horrific. The looks she used to get from the other guards could make your blood run cold. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't hear the car door open. She was snapped back when she felt hands on her shoulders pulling her toward his warm chest. 

Daryl leaned back and laid her on his chest. He wrapped her up in the blanket again. She sobbed quietly as he whispered to her, “I'm not good with words, Rayne, but as long as I'm around no one will ever hurt you again. I will protect you and keep ya safe. Now sleep girl, your gonna need your strength.”

He kissed the top of her head. He ran his fingers thorough her hair as she drifted off to sleep. Through all the bullshit and killing that was going on now, there was nothing better than holding this woman in his arms at the end of the day. Not long after, Daryl found himself drifting off to sleep. 

The next morning everyone woke up early so they could all head over to the farm. Some of the others helped Carol set up some food for Sophia and left her a note on the windshield of the car. Rayne handed James the keys to her car this time. She didn't want him to throw another fit about not driving it. Rayne rode with Daryl on the back of his bike. They followed the road till they came across the farm. They pulled up to the house and saw Lori, Rick, Shane and an older gentleman come out of the house. Carol was the first to ask if Carl was alright. Lori told everyone that he would pull through thanks to Hershel, his people and Shane. Rayne breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that Carl was going to be alright. 

Rayne noticed Shane standing in the background looking haggard and wearing clothes that were two sizes too big for him. She took notice that his eyes were dark and empty, more than they usually were. Rayne knew something was wrong with him but couldn't put her finger on it. 

Before everyone could get settled in, they made their way over to a makeshift grave that was made for a man named Otis. He was the one who took Shane to the school to get the equipment that was needed to save Carl. Rayne stood behind Daryl in the background. She watched as tears were shed and Hershel read from his bible. Patricia, who was Otis's girlfriend, asked Shane to speak. He was the last one with Otis and was with him during his final moments. Rayne listened as Shane spoke of how Otis gave his life to save Carl's. She knew it was all bullshit from the moment he opened his mouth. Rayne could smell a lie from a mile off. She couldn't listen to it anymore so she turned her head to the beautiful Georgia sky, to try and block him out. 

After everyone was saying their goodbyes, Rayne went and gathered her tent and other supplies from her trunk. Once everyone was semi settled, a few people gathered at a truck. Maggie, one of Hershel's daughters, pulled out a map of the surrounding area. Rick was hoping that with a better lay out of the land, they would be able to continue the search for Sophia. Hershel told Rick that he had given too much blood and was in no shape to be out in the woods. 

Daryl spoke up, “Guess it's just me.”

“And me.” Rayne wanted to help him look some more.

“I'm a head back to the creek, work my way back from there.”

Shane said that he would head back to the interstate and see if Sophia went back. He also mentioned that he needed to give everyone the gun training he had promised them.

Hershel looked over at Rick and Shane, “I prefer you not carry guns on my property. We managed this far without turning this into an armed camp.”

Of course Shane had to make some dumb comment that Rayne chose to ignore. Rick made it perfectly clear to all of them that this was Hershel's property and everyone needed to respect that. Rick and Shane placed their guns on the hood of the truck. Rick gave Rayne a look, knowing that she had a gun as well. She rolled her eyes and pulled her 9mm out of her pants, placing it on the hood as well.

Rick made eye contact with everyone, “First things first, set camp, find Sophia.”

Shane just had to bring the mood down, “I hate to be the one to ask, but somebodies got to. What happens if we find her and she is bit? I think we should all be clear on how we handle that.”

Rayne gave Shane a nasty look, “I think the only thing we are ALL clear on, is that your a fucking dick head. How about we focus on finding her first. Let's not get a head of ourselves.”

Rick looked between the two, knowing that a fight was coming. “She's right, well for the most part, but we do what has to be done.”

Shane shot Rayne a murderous glare until Daryl stepped into his line of view. Shane needed to know that he couldn't look to her like that, while he was around. Daryl walked away from the group with Rayne not far behind him. They gathered their gear and Rayne grabbed a few more arrows shoving them into her back pocket. 

The two hunters began to walk toward the woods when they were stopped by Rick. “Are you two alright going out there alone?”

“Do better jus' the two of us. Don't worry, be back before dark.”

Rick looked over into the field before he addressed Daryl again, “We got a base, we can get the search properly organized now.”

Daryl was starting to get agitated, “You got a point or we jus' chit chatting?”

“My point, it let's you guys off the hook. You don't owe us anything.”

As Daryl walked away from him, “My other plans fell through.”

Rayne nodded to Rick and walked along side Daryl toward the woods. They walked the woods for an hour in silence, looking for any sign of Sophia. They came across a clearing where an abandoned farm house stood. 

Rayne crouched down beside him, “Think she could be in there?”

“Only one way to tell. Come on.”

Daryl kicked in the door to the house with his boot and stood back expecting walkers to come out. When nothing came out he entered the house slowly. He checked around before giving Rayne the signal to come in. As they walked around the house more, they noticed the back door was open. Daryl was extremely cautious when he found the kitchen. He found a can of sardines in the trash can that was recently opened. He lifted it up to her nose so that she could smell it to before he put it back in the trash can. Rayne nodded to him toward a small pantry door, in hopes that she would be hiding in there. Daryl moved silently over to the door, crossbow at the ready. He opened the door and at first look, there appeared to be nothing in it. Until Rayne tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to the bottom of the closet. There was a blanket and pillow set up on the floor, like a makeshift bed. They exchanged a look with each other knowing that she had been in there at some point. 

They left through the back door, still being cautious of walkers. When Daryl didn't see any around he called for Sophia a few times but didn't get an answer. Rayne was walking around and noticed a beautiful white flower that was growing near the house. 

She stopped and stared at it, “Funny how amongst all this chaos and death, that beautiful flower can still grow.” 

Daryl walked up behind her, “It's called a Cherokee Rose. Come on, let's keep looking. She can't be too far off.”

They continued to search the woods for another two hours but found no sign of her. It was starting to get late so they began to head back to the farm. On the way back, Daryl stopped and looked over his shoulder at her, “How did you deal with that shit that happened to you?”

Rayne stopped and looked toward the sky for a moment, “Drugs, lots of drugs. I tried therapy for awhile but it wasn't helping. It was easier for me to build up walls and hide behind a mask of drugs. If I was numb, I wouldn't feel any kind of emotion. Then no one would be able to hurt me.”

Daryl picked up a piece of grass and stuck it in his mouth. He wasn't sure what to say to her. He didn't even know why he asked her that question. He wanted to know how her mind worked. Wanted to know everything about her. Her watched her pull her hair up and out of her face. He saw her shirt lift up, exposing her skin. It took everything in him not to take her right there. He wanted to touch her, feel her soft skin move underneath him. He could feel his erection pressing against his jeans. He closed the gap between them. He took the grass out of his mouth and kissed her forehead. She laughed as she saw him wiping his mouth from all the sweat of her forehead, “Sorry.”

Daryl gave her a smirk, “Don't be. I like my women sweaty and dirty.”

Rayne could hear the lust in his voice, “I bet you do, baby. I bet you do.”

When they reached the farm, Rayne had noticed that Daryl had picked the white flower from before. As he got closer to the RV, Daryl looked over at her. “I'll catch up with you later. There is sumthin' I gotta do.”

Rayne gave him a wink and went off on her way as he entered the RV. Rayne knew that Daryl was going to go talk to Carol. She knew that he felt bad for not finding her yet. Rayne didn't want to be the type of girl that was always up his ass. They both needed their space. Rayne walked through camp and went over to join Kelsey, James and Glenn. Glenn seemed to be upset for some reason.

She dropped her gear on the ground, “What's wrong, Glenn?”

“Nothing, I don't want to talk about it.”

“Alright fine, Cranky ass. Did you happen to find any smokes on your supply run?”

“No, but it wasn't on the list so I really wasn't looking.”

“Damn it, I'm getting low. Oh well, guess I'll quit when I'm out.”

Rayne sat around with them for awhile and talked about the farm and how safe it felt. She grabbed her gear and went over to her car and grabbed her bag and Daryl's tent out. She took them a little ways away from the rest of the group. She had a feeling that Daryl would be tired and not in the best of moods so she was going to get everything ready for him. After she got the tent set up and threw his bags inside when she noticed that it had become dark out. She was close enough to the others that there was still some light around her from their fire. She had sent the tent up between two tree. She went inside and grabbed her sketch book from her bag. She leaned against the tree and began to drawl. She wrote some things down as well. Like a journal but not really. She just wanted to remember what had happened today. She wrote about what Daryl had asked her and they she was happy that he was opening up to her. 

Daryl looked around the camp for her but couldn't find her. He bumped into Glenn and he asked if he had seen her. Glenn told him that she had take some stuff out of the car and was over near the trees. He walked quietly over to where she was. He saw that she was busy writing or drawling. He leaned against a tree, just watching her bite her bottom lip as her pencil went a mile a minute. 

Rayne finally felt safe enough to let her guard down so that she could let her mind run free. She didn't notice he was there till he cleared his throat. She jumped at the sound and he smiled at her, proud of himself that he had scared her. 

Rayne threw her book at him, “Damn you, Daryl! You scared the hell out of me! How long ya been standing there?”

He grabbed the book from the ground, “Long enough. Where is all my shit?”

“I put it inside, but I also got your tent in case you didn't want to sleep with me.”

Daryl was puzzled by her statement. He didn't understand why she would think that he didn't want to sleep next to her. He sat down on the ground leaning against the other tree across from her. “Now why would you think a fool thing like that?”

Rayne sighed, “I don't know Daryl, I guess I was just preparing myself in case you didn't want to be around me anymore. I tend to over think things I guess.”

Daryl just shook his head, “Trust me girly, if I didn't want ya around, you would know it. Now git your tight lit'le ass in that tent.”

Rayne smiled as she watched the faint light of the distant fire dance across his face. She stood up, dusting herself off. “Don't tell anyone, but I think I like it when you boss me around.”

Daryl smiled wickedly, “Don't worry it will be our little secret.”

Daryl and Rayne spent the next few hours kissing, touching and exploring each others bodies like they never had before. He took his time with her, teasing her till she couldn't take it anymore. Keeping her quiet was a different story. He knew that he would get some interesting looks around the camp come morning. 

After they were finished with each other, Rayne walked outside to get some fresh air. Who knew that you could actually fog up a tent. She stretched her arms out and felt his rough hands creep around her waist. She turned her head to the side and kissed his cheek, “I gotta go.”

Daryl looked confused, “Go where? It's the middle of the night.”

Rayne turned and looked at him in her usual annoyed way, “I gotta pee if that's alright with you.”

“You want me to come with you? In case of walkers.”

Rayne laughed, “Hell no you can't, pervert. I''ll be just fine. Besides if a walker comes around, I'll piss on him.”

Daryl scoffed and sat down on the ground to wait for her to come back. 

Rayne walked off into the field away from the group to get some privacy, but when she walked out far enough to do her business, she found Lori in the middle of the field. Rayne whispered her name, startling Lori. “I didn't mean to frighten you, I'm sorry. Are you alright?”

Lori messed with her hair as she buckled her belt, “Yea I'm just fine, why?”

“You don't look good. Your pale as a ghost.” Rayne looked down at something Lori was trying to hide in her hand. Rayne knew exactly what it was and looked back up to Lori. “Lori, is that what I think it is?”

Lori's face turned to panic and took off back to the house as fast as she could. Rayne was left in the middle of the field so very confused and shocked.


	15. Chapter 15

Rayne woke up the next morning to find the space where Daryl was sleeping to be empty, like usual. She looked around just to make sure he was gone, “Shit, that man wakes up early in the morning.”

Daryl poked his head inside the tent, “No, you jus' sleep in too much.”

Rayne laid her head back down, “Fuck you.”

Daryl looked at her just laying there. He opened the flap to the tent and crawled his way up her body. He kissed her shoulder and then her cheek. He moved his lips to her ear and whispered to her, “Ya offering?”

Rayne's body shivered as his lips moved gently on her earlobe as he spoke. She smiled, “Oh, you wish.”

Daryl sat back on his knees as he pulled her blanket off painfully slow down her body. He licked his bottom lip as he admired her tight tank top. She always wore the tiniest shorts he had ever seen in his life. They barely covered her ass, which is how he liked it. She looked over her shoulder at him when he didn't speak.

He looked up her with that familiar hunger in his eyes, “Mmm, I do wish baby. Come on, we need to git an early start today.” He stood up a little bit and started to walk out of the tent. He stopped and looked back over at her, “I'll take care of you tonight.”

Rayne couldn't help but laugh and she blew him a kiss. She rubbed her eyes and sat up to stretch. She hurried up and got dressed so she wouldn't get a lecture about taking forever. She met up with the rest of the group to figure out what the next move would be. 

Rick walked up to the group, “Mornin' guys. Let's get going, got a lot of ground to cover.” Rick looked at everyone in the group, then he looked between Shane and Rayne, “Now, before we get started. Can I trust that you two can get along? Rayne, I need you and Daryl to split up this time. I need someone who can track to go with Andrea and T-Dog.”

Rayne saw Shane rolling his eyes before he looked over in her direction. She sighed, “I guess I can try to be civil. I'm only doing this because you asked, Rick.” She pointed almost in Shane's face, “But, I still don't fucking like you, understand!” 

Shane shot Rayne another cross look but kept his mouth shut. Rick looked between the two of them but when nothing more was said he continued his speech. “Alright, everyone is getting new search grids today. If she made it as far as the farm house that Daryl and Rayne found, she might have gone further East then we've been so far.”

All of a sudden a young boy spoke up saying that he wanted to help them in the search for Sophia. His name was Jimmy and he was the boyfriend of Beth, Hershel's youngest daughter. He seemed like a nice enough kid but looked like he didn't have much experience in trekking through the woods, looking for lost little girls. Rick asked the boy if Hershel knew that he wanted to help and if he had his permission. To which the boy told Rick 'yes'. Rayne knew that was a lie the minute it left his lips. Shane started to go on about how he doubted that Sophia was even in the farm house at all. 

Daryl spoke up, “Well whoever slept in tha' cupboard was no bigger than 'yay high'.” He put his hand out to the side to show how small of a child he was talking about. 

Rick began to sound hopeful, “Maybe we will pick up her trail again.”

“No maybe about it. I'ma borrow a horse. Head up to that ridge right here. Get a bird's eye view of the whole grid. If she's out there, I'll spot her.”

T-Dog took the opportunity to tease Daryl, “Good idea, maybe you'll see your Chupacabra up there too.”

“Chupacabra?” asked Rick, looking very puzzled.

Dale walked over, placing the bag of guns on the hood, “You never heard that story? The first night in camp, Daryl tells us that this whole thing reminded him of the time he went squirrel hunting and he saw a Chupacabra.”

Rayne didn't remember hearing this story at all. “Wait, how come I don't remember hearing this story?”

Daryl looked over his shoulder at her, “You was sleepin', like always.”

She shoved him in the shoulder lightly. He was such a smart ass sometimes. That's one thing she enjoyed the most about spending time with him was, he always knew how to take a joke. She just loved how they could throw snide comments back and forth to one another and no one would get their feelings hurt. 

Jimmy began to laugh. Daryl looked over at him with a stoic look on his face, “What are you braying at, jackass?”

“So you believe in a bloodsucking dog?”

Daryl looked that poor kid right in the face, “You believe in dead people walking around?”

After a few seconds of silence, Jimmy went to grab the rifle that was on the hood of the truck. Rick asked him if he had ever shot a gun before.

“No, but if I'm going out, I want one.”

Without missing a beat, as usual, Daryl spoke up, “Yeah, well people in hell want Slurpee’s.” With that being said he walked away from the group, with Rayne not too far behind him. She needed to grab her backpack from the tent before they had to head out. Daryl stopped in front of the tent, “You be careful girl. Keep ya eyes open.”

Rayne smiled sweetly at him, trying to mask the horrible feeling she had in the pit of her gut. “You be careful too, Daryl. I got a bad feeling about this.”

He gave her a nod and started to walk away when she called after him, “Daryl. Wait.” She quickly closed the gap between them and pressed her lips to his with a fever. She needed to feel them again to make the awful feeling she had go away. They parted their lips briefly enough to slide their tongues against one another quickly. She pulled away and whispered to him, “I love you.”

Daryl gave her a wink, “Be back before dark.”

With that they parted ways. Rayne didn't need to hear him say it back but, she just needed to say it to him. She knew that he wasn't the kind of man to go around professing his love for her at every waking moment. She didn't want a man like that. She had a few men like that in her life and they made her want to puke. The love that two people shared was between those two people not everyone within earshot. Rayne knew that everyone else knew about them being together but it wasn't like they went around holding hands. They was no hiding what they did at night either, the woods seemed to carry the smallest noises. She knew people could hear them having sex but in those moments, she never really gave a shit. All that mattered was that sweaty, chiseled body that laid next to her at night. Rayne returned to the others to get her grid from Rick.

 

Daryl rode out on one of Hershel's horses and trotted along the ridge. Once he got to the spot he was going to check, he noticed a creek that ran along the bottom of the ridge. He spotted something in the creek bed below. He got off the horse and went to see what it was. Once Daryl got closer to it and picked it up, he realized it was the doll that Sophia used to carry around. He looked around the area and called out her name, but got nothing in return. He climbed the short distance to where he had left the horse and got back on. He rode along the ridge more looking down at the creek. A flock of birds flew out in front of his horse and spooked her a bit. Daryl held on tight and coaxed her along further up the trail. Before Daryl could even realize what was happening, he was being bucked off. The horse reared up and threw Daryl off, which sent him crashing down the steep slope. Daryl landed into the creek bed below with a hard thud, “Son of a bitch!”

He grabbed at his side, which felt like it was on fire. He sat up to take a look and saw that there was one of his arrows poking through his side, blood had begun to pool around him in the water. Daryl made his way over to the bank where he had found Sophia's doll and began to cut the sleeves off his long sleeved shirt. He made a makeshift tourniquet and tied it around the arrow to slow the bleeding down. Daryl took one look up that ridge and knew that he just had to get back up there somehow and make it back to camp. Suddenly there was rustling in the bushes. Panic started to well up inside of him when he noticed he didn't have his crossbow with him. Daryl went into the water to try and dig it up with a long stick he grabbed. Once he finally found it, he made his way over to the ridge to try and climb back up. 

Daryl used the stick to help him get up the steep side. He had gotten half way up before he decided he didn't need the stick anymore and threw it, “Come on, you gone half way. Stop being such a pussy.”

He took a deep breath and pulled himself up but lost his footing and fell back down the ridge. He hit the bottom with another horrible thud. This time he was completely knocked out, laying on the bank of the creek again. There was no telling how long he had been passed out but he started to come back when he thought he heard the sound of foot steps. Daryl opened up his eye but his vision was blurry. When his vision finally started to come back, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. There in front of him was Merle. 

“Why don't you pull that arrow out dummy. You could bind your wound better.” 

“Merle” was all that Daryl could muster up.

Merle looked at him and smiled his usual wicked smile, “What's going on here? You taking a siesta or sumthin'?”

“Shitty day, bro.”

Merle cocked his head, “Would you like me to get you a pillow? Maybe rub your feet?”

Daryl turned his head, “Screw you.”

“You're the one screwed from the looks of it. All them years I spent trying to make a man of you. This what I get? Look at cha, layin' in the dirt like a used rug. Your gonna die out here little brother, and for what?”

“A girl, they lost a little girl.” Daryl's voice had a hint of sadness in it. 

“So ya got a thing for little girls now? You had that fine piece of ass that followed you around. What was her name?”

Daryl tried to get upset but was still out of it, “Shut up. Don't you talk about Rayne like that.”

Merle snapped his fingers, “Rayne, yeah, that was her name. Have you gotten a taste of that fine pussy yet, little brother? Is she making you soft now? Got you lookin' for little girls. I noticed you ain't out looking for ol' Merle no more.”

“I tried like hell to find ya, bro.”

Merle started to get pissed, “Like hell ya did, ya split man. Let out first chance ya got.”

“You let out. All you had to do was wait. We went back for ya. Rayne, Rick and I, we did right by ya.”

“Well ain't that sweet, your bitch went looking for me too.”

Daryl squinted his eyes at his brother, “Don't call her that.”

“And ain't that the same Rick that handcuffed me to that roof. Forced me to cut off my own hand. That who we're talking about here? Did your little woman hold you close to her when you couldn't find me. Did she rub her soft, milky white skin all over you? Did that pussy make you weak? Are you their bitch now?”

Daryl started to get mad, “I ain't nobodies bitch.”

“You're a joke, is what ya are. Playin' errand boy to a bunch of pansy-asses, niggers and democrats. Hmm, your nothing but a freak to them. Redneck trash, that's all you are. Even to her, and their laughing behind your back, ya know that don't cha? Well I got some news for you, son. One of these days their gonna scrape ya off of their heels like you was dog shit.”

Sadness came back into Daryl's voice again, “She ain't like them.”

Merle pointed at Daryl, “Oh but she is baby brother. You ain't good enough to have her. She is just using you for a toy. She will never love you! Don't you let that bitch make you soft. Use her like she uses you.”

Daryl started to drift off again. Merle hit him in the chest, “Hey! They ain't ya kin, ya blood. Hell if ya had enough family left in that sack of yours, you'd go back and shoot yer pal, Rick in the face for me. Now you listen to me, ain't nobody care 'bout you cept me, little brother. Ain't nobody ever will. Come on, get up on ya feet or I'll have to kick your teeth in.”

Daryl faded away again with the image of Merle kicking at his feet. His eyes were still closed but his body was still moving. He came back just a second later, looking down at his foot he saw a walker chewing on his boot. Daryl freaked out, kicking it in the head while he grabbed for his crossbow. The walker went after him and Daryl stabbed it in the arm. He grabbed a stick and took it to the ground. He spotted another walker coming out of the bushes getting closer. Daryl lifted the stick and bashed the walker in the face so hard, it's face caved in. Daryl rolled over and pulled the arrow out of his side. He put the arrow between his teeth and grabbed his crossbow. It took every ounce of strength that Daryl had left in him to pull the string back. He loaded the arrow and shot the other walker in the head, just in time. With both walkers dead, Daryl laid down on the ground and passed back out again. The blood loss was beginning to get to him. When Daryl came back he tended to his wound better now that the arrow wasn't in the way. “Son of a bitch was right.” 

In the back of his mind he always knew that he was nothing more than redneck trash to all of them. He wanted to believe that Rayne really did love him but, how could she. He can barely tell her how he feels about her. She needs someone who can take care of her. Daryl had a serious injury and was at the bottom of a ridge, he could barely take care of himself. There was still a very tiny part of him that hoped that she did truly love him. No, she was just some gorgeous stripper that had gotten into his head and also his pants. He cut off the ears of the walkers he had killed and made himself a trophy necklace. Maybe to prove to himself that he was still a man. He didn't want to be soft anymore. He was going to go back to being the hard ass that Merle had raised him to be.

He grabbed a squirrel that he shot earlier and began to gut it. He pulled out the meat and began to eat it raw. Daryl licked the blood from his fingers. He needed some kinda food if he was going to climb that ridge. As he started his accent up the ridge all he could hear was Merle's voice telling him that he was 'their errand boy'. 

Just then he could hear a flock of crows overhead, a voice called out to him from above, “Please don't feed the birds. What's the matter Darylina? Is that all ya got in ya? Throw over that purse and climb.”

Daryl looked up, “I did better when you was gone.”

“Now come on, don't be like that. I'm on your side.”

“Yeah, since when?” Daryl was still struggling to climb up the ridge as he argued with Merle.

“Hell, since the day you was born, baby brother. Someone had to look after your worthless ass.”

Daryl almost smiled, “You never took care of me. You talked a big game but you was never there. Hell, you ain't here now. Some things never change.”

Merle stood up and said in a serious tone, “I'll tell ya what. I'm as real as your Chupacabra.”

Daryl grabbed a root to pull himself up. His voice was full of anger now, “I know what I saw.”

Merle laughed, “Yeah, and I'm sure those shrooms you ate had nothing to do with it, right?”

Daryl was pissed now, “Ya best shut the hell up!”

“Or what? Ya gonna come up here and shut my mouth for me? Well come on and do it then, if you think your man enough. Hey! Kick off them damn high heels an climb, son.”

Merle laughed as Daryl mustered up all his strength and climbed with all his might. Daryl's muscles burned as he climbed higher and higher. He was getting closer and closer to Merle. 

“Ya know what, if I were you. I take a fall for the cause, brother. Cause I just don't think ya gonna make it to the top. Come on, little brother. Grab your friend Rick's hand.”

In that moment Daryl made it to the top of the ridge and to safety. He pulled himself up the rest of the way. When he stood he was out of breath and out of sorts. He looked around for Merle but didn't see him. He cried out, “Yeah, you better run.”

 

Rayne was walking back up the dirt road that lead to the farm house with the others. They still weren't able to find any sign of Sophia. It was kind of nice to get out in the woods by herself and track they way she wanted to. Not that she didn't like the way that Daryl tracked but this time she did things on her own terms. When they got to camp, Rayne noticed that Daryl wasn't back yet. It was no where near dark so she wasn't too worried about him. She knew that if anyone could handle themselves in this place it would be, Daryl Dixon. Rayne decided that to kill time she would sit down a clean her bow. She sat at the picnic table with T-Dog. She didn't mind him that much. He was a quiet man. Like Daryl, Rayne was also raised in a racist home. Although with the world the way it was, she didn't see people of color anymore, she just saw people trying to survive. She had a nice conversation with T-Dog about her tattoos and where she was raised. He wasn't so bad once she got him talking. 

It was starting to get late so she took off toward her tent to drop off her newly polished bow and her pack. When she came back out of her tent she was face to face with Lori.

Lori looked nervous, “Look, we need to keep this between you and me. I'm sorry I took off last night but you caught me at a bad time.”

Rayne tied her hair up, “Yeah, I bet. It's done.”

Lori looked puzzled, “Wait! That's it?”

“Yeah, that's it. I ain't one for drama but, don't you dare try to drag me into it if shit hits the fan.”

Just as Lori began to walk away they both heard Andrea yell 'walker'. Rayne took off toward the RV as fast as she could. She heard Andrea mutter something about being able to hit it from there. 

Rayne looked up at her, “Are you trying to bring every walking in the area down on us, dumb ass?”

Rick, Shane, T-Dog, Glenn and James took off into the field after the walker. Rayne heard the click of the safety from Andrea's gun. Rayne just looked up at her and shook her head. Rayne climbed half way up the ladder on the back of the RV to get a better look at the walker in the field. It was so far away that she couldn't see it very well. Rayne could feel her gut tighten. Something didn't feel right. 

As the guys neared the walker, Rick raised his gun to it. Rick took one good look at it and they all realized that it was Daryl and not a walker.

“Is that Daryl?” Called Glenn.

Daryl stopped in his tracks, “That's the third time you pointed that thing at my head. Ya gonna pull the trigger, or not?”

Rayne saw the walker stop and the rest of the guys do the same. She knew instantly that something else was going on. Rayne had a horrible feeling that the so called 'walker' was an actual person. Before she could speak up, a shot rang out and the body went down. Rayne could hear Rick screaming something off in the distance.

Rick paced back and forth before going over to where Daryl lay and checking his pulse. To Rick's surprise, Daryl was still alive. He saw that he was only grazed and the bullet didn't penetrate his skull at all. As Rick and Shane picked up Daryl he said, “I was kidding.”

Rayne took off into the field knowing that the person was Daryl. She didn't know how she knew it was Daryl, all she knew was that she could just feel it. Her heart sank and her mind went blank as her legs pumped faster and faster as she flew like the wind to meet the guys. Rayne met them half way, with Andrea and Dale not to far behind her. She heard nothing else around her except her own heavy breathing. She saw him bloodied and broken, she didn't know how to react. She just stood there staring at them. 

Andrea cried out, “Oh my God! Is he dead?”

Rick struggled with Daryl's weight, “Unconscious, you just grazed him.”

Glenn had a hint of panic in his voice, “Look at him. What the hell happened to him? Is he wearing ears?” 

Rick ripped the necklace off of Daryl's neck and shoved it into his pocket, telling everyone to keep it to themselves. T-Dog lingered behind the rest of the group and picked up the doll that Daryl had found. He held it up and showed it to everyone. They all looked at it in amazement. They all knew that it belonged to Sophia. 

Rayne looked over at it slowly and then her eyes caught Andrea and she completely lost it. She saw nothing but red and her anger bubbled to the surface. In a split second she went after Andrea, fist first. Rayne's fist connected, which took Andrea off guard and sent her stumbling backwards. 

Rayne screamed at the top of her lungs, not caring if every walker within a hundred miles heard her, “You stupid fucking bitch! I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you for hurting him!”

Rayne tackled her the the ground in under a second. Rick let go of Daryl and went after the two women. James was the first one the get to Rayne first but, as soon as he touched her she swung around and slugged him in the jaw. Rayne went right back to Andrea again. Everyone was screaming at her to stop but she heard nothing but the sick sound of Andrea's flesh as it crunched under her fists. Nothing mattered to Rayne, for all she knew Daryl could die from that injury she gave him. She had to make that stuck up bitch pay for what she did. No one was allowed to even look at him wrong let alone shoot him in the fucking head. 

Shane held up Daryl the best he could. All the commotion brought Daryl back into consciousness. He looked over to see Rayne sitting on top of Andrea just pounding away at her. He thought maybe he might have been dreaming. There was no way that she would really being doing that. Rayne was as wild of an animal as he was. He looked up at Shane, “Damn, now that's a cat fight.”

Rick finally pulled Rayne back enough for Dale to come in a drag Andrea away from underneath her. Rick handed Rayne off to James so he could continue to help take Daryl into the house. Rayne sat down in the middle of the field as she watched the others carry Daryl away. James just looked down at her, he knew she could get pretty pissed but never like that. Kelsey came up to the side of Rayne and placed her hand on her shoulder. Rayne just looked at her with a blank stare. Rayne then took a look at her hands which were completely covered in blood. She took another look at Kelsey and began to cry. She didn't know why, maybe because she didn't know if Daryl would live of not. It could be all the trauma that this world had caused her to suppress. 

Kelsey picked Rayne up by her arm, “Come on, sweetheart. Lets go get you cleaned up.”


	16. Chapter 16

Kelsey took Rayne over to the porch and sat her down on one of the chairs. She ran and got a warm wash cloth from the house. Kelsey carefully washed the blood off from her hands. Rayne's knuckles were busted open. They didn't need to be stitched or anything but Kelsey was still worried about Rayne. They had become friends and even though Andrea deserved every bit of what Rayne did to her, she worried that the group would outcast her for it. 

Rayne was still staring out into the field, there was no emotion on her face. She was stuck in a state of nothingness. She was brought back to reality when she saw Dale yelling at her. He was talking but she didn't hear him.

She just looked at him, “What?”

Dale screamed at her, “What is wrong with you? Why would you do that? Are you insane?”

Rayne shot up from her chair and got in his face, “Are you fucking kidding me, Dale? She shot Daryl in the fucking HEAD! You think she should be able to get away with that? He could die from that injury, let alone what else happened to him out there. You keep that fucking bitch away from me or I swear, next time I’ll fucking kill her. I'm glad I kicked her fucking ass, she deserved it!”

Dale was taken back by Rayne's anger and words, that he just stood there in silence. Rayne could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. She flew off the porch and ran to her tent. She grabbed her bow and took off toward a patch of tree near the stables. 

Rayne took her anger out on the trees. Arrow by arrow she sent into the trunk of the trees. It took her about fifteen minutes to finally calm down and the tears to fade away.

Rick had come up behind her, “I know your angry.”

She turned around, bow drawn back. He should know better than to sneak up on her like that. She turned back to the tree and sent an arrow into the truck once last time with a loud thunk.

“There was no reason to beat her as badly as you did. I can't have you going around beating people up and picking fights.”

Rayne's voice was full of anger still, “I don't pick fights. Like I told Dale, I'm not sorry for what I did. She deserved it, every fucking ounce of it. You don't want me here anymore, fine I'm gone.”

Rick's face changed, “No, Rayne. I need you here. Your important to us, to the group, to Daryl.”

Rayne felt tears again, “I ain't important to no one. Everyone will take her side on this. They will feel sorry for her and cast me out. I was the only one to man up and grow some balls and give that stuck up bitch what was coming to her. She shot him in the fucking head, Rick! That should not be overlooked. Your the boss man, do something about it!”

Tears ran down her cheeks as she yelled at him. I wasn't Rick's fault. She caused this whole thing to get blown out of proportion. She knew that beating Andrea like that was a bit extreme but at the time it was all she could do. 

Rayne dropped to the ground and sobbed. She couldn't handle it anymore. It was all becoming too much for her. Rick knelt down beside her and put his hand on her back, “I know your hurting but, Daryl is doing fine. Hershel is in there patching him up right now. Daryl is talking and seems to be fine. Go see him, I'm sure he would love to see you after the day he has had. You of all people should know that it takes more than getting grazed by a bullet to take down a Dixon.”

Rayne felt a huge weight lifted off her shoulders. She hugged Rick, thanking him for understanding. She took off like a bat out of hell toward the house. She flew by Kelsey who tried to stop her so she could treat her hands again. Kelsey didn't put up too much of a fight knowing that Rayne needed to see him. She ran into the house frantically looking around for the room he was in. She saw Shane at the end of the hall, “Where is he?”

Shane pointed to the door and Rayne flew through it. She saw Daryl laying on the bed shirtless and still covered in blood. He looked over at her the best he could from the position he was in. Hershel was in the room still tending to his wounds. Rayne just stood there, breathing heavily. She didn't know what to say to him. She just wanted to look at him. His face looked annoyed and angry. 

Hershel spoke up and broke the staring contest they were having, “How bad did you hurt that other woman?”

Rayne looked over to him and then back to Daryl, with a slight smirk, “Oh, I fucked her up pretty good, ol' man. She is gonna have a broken nose for sure.”

Hershel looked annoyed now, “That is nothing to be proud of. I need to go attend to her now. I'll leave you two alone for now but I'll be back later.”

Hershel shut the door when he left. Rayne still just stood there at the end of the bed, looking at him. 

Daryl finally spoke up, “Ya gonna talk or are ya gonna stare at me all night?”

Rayne moved over to the side of the bed so she could get closer to him. She knelt down on the side of the bed and reached out to touch his face. He recoiled away from her hand. She was shocked that he did that. What happened to him out there? He was different somehow. 

“What happened to you out there, Daryl?”

Daryl narrowed his eyes, “I got my head on straight. My eyes are open now. I know what everyone one thinks of me. I need to be looking out for myself, not fucking around with you or any of those other people out there. I can't be babysitting you or anyone else. Your on your fucking own now.”

Rayne couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her anger was beginning to bubble to the surface again. Why was he doing this? Why was he pushing her away again?

Rayne stood up, “Are you fucking kidding me? I damn near beat a woman to death trying to defend and protect you and this is how you fucking treat me? Your head is far from on straight, it's up your ass, Dixon. I don't know why I stuck my neck out for you. I fucking knew you would never love me like I love you. I'm just trash to you!”

Rayne left the room, slamming the door behind her. She saw Glenn in the hallway, “Hey Rayne. What's up?”

“Fuck you”

She bumped into him as she walked by. Glenn stood there so dumbfounded by her remark. Rayne made her way out of the house and sat in front of her tent for hours. As the hours passed, Andrea had a broken nose, split lip and a black eye. Daryl had been fully patched up by now. Everyone was starting to make dinner. 

Rayne just sat under a tree and stared out into the fields as the sun began to set. All she could think about was Daryl and his harsh words. She knew that Daryl could be hard to handle, and at times unbearable to be around when he was in a mood. Although he usually cooled off after about an hour. Rayne was completely crushed this time. She thought that they had gotten past all this bullshit. They haven't fought like this since that day in the church and even then he quickly came around and saw that he had hurt her. Not this time though, there was no more love for her in his eye, no compassion. What had changed? She was no different toward him. She was still hard as nails around the others and loving and open when they were alone. 

Her thoughts were interrupted when Kelsey walked up to her, “Do you want to come in and eat with us?”

“Not with any of them. I'll eat out here.”

Kelsey rolled her eyes, “Alright come on, let's go in and make you a plate at least.”

Kelsey had followed Rayne out of the house and heard about what happened between her and Daryl. Rayne confided in her and told her almost everything. They had become very good friends. Rayne really liked hanging around with Kelsey. 

What Rayne didn't know was that Kelsey had a plan to get Rayne and Daryl talking again. They walked into the kitchen together. Rayne began to make herself a plate and Kelsey made another plate and placed it on a tray. 

Rayne looked over at her, “Who is that for?”

Kelsey just smiled her usual, wonderful, smile, “This is for Daryl and your going to take it to him.”

“Oh, no I'm not!”

“Yes, you are. This needs to be fixed. Daryl almost died out there today. God knows happened to him out there. You love him Rayne, you know you do. Just take him some damn food. Show him you still care for him even if he doesn't anymore.”

Rayne was going to object but just let out a long sigh. She knew that Kelsey was right. She wanted to be mad at him and just forget all about him. In her heart she knew that, that was never going to happen. 

Rayne took the tray down the hall and opened the door to Daryl's room. He looked over at who came into the room. He saw it was her and pulled up his sheet to cover himself up. Rayne thought that was strange since he never used to be so shy around her. It was like they were strangers all over again. 

She walked over to the side of the bed and placed the tray down on the bed in front of him, “How are you feeling?”

“Bout as good as I look.”

Rayne smiled a little, “Well you look like shit. I brought you some dinner.”

“You eating with everyone else?”

Rayne's face turned sad, “No, I can't eat right now. I'll eat outside in front of the fire later. I don't think they are too happy with me right now.”

Daryl seemed to have come back to his senses. That spark in his eyes had begun to return. He didn't seem as angry as he was before. 

“Yeah, I heard you kicked her ass pretty good.”

She couldn't help the grin across her face, “Yeah, I did. I'll come back and check on you later.”

Daryl fumbled his words, like he wanted to say thank you. Rayne grabbed the door handle and looked over at him, “Your welcome, babe.”

She shut the door, leaning against the frame not fighting the tears that came now. She wasn't sure if they were tears of relief or not. She was so overwhelmed with everything that went on today, she just lost it. Through all the bullshit, Daryl was the only constant thing in her life now. She loved him more than she ever thought she could. 

Daryl could hear her crying softly outside of the door. He began to think back to what Merle said to him. Merle had to be wrong. No woman would do the things she has done for him and not love him. She had to honestly and truly love him, no normal woman would let him talk to her like that and still come check to see if he was alright. 

Rayne grabbed her plate from the kitchen and sat on the porch near where Daryl's window was. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Glenn leaving the house with a blanket under his arm. Rayne didn't think too much over it. She was going to have to apologize to him for being so rude. She took her plate inside and thought nothing more of it. 

After a few more hours had passed and everyone else was going to bed. Rayne decided that she would go check on Daryl one more time before she went to bed herself. She opened his door quietly for fear he was sleeping. As she came around the side of the bed she saw that he was fast asleep. She sat on the bed, watching him sleep. 

A tear fell from her eye, “Please don't hate me for too long.”

“Don't hate ya girl.” Daryl’s voice was groggy from sleep and his eyes were still closed. 

Rayne wiped the tear away, “I thought you were sleeping.”

“I can't sleep. I'm missing sumthin'.”

Rayne was confused, “What are you missing? I'll go get it for ya.”

He opened his eyes, “You.”

Rayne looked down into his crystal blue eyes, happy to hear him say that. 

Daryl continued, “I'm missing a beautiful, warm body layin' next to mine. Slept alone my whole life. Now that I met you, I can't seem to get and ounce of sleep 'cept if your next to me.”

Her heart felt like it was going to burst from her chest, “I love you, Daryl.”

“You really mean that, Jersey? You ain't playin' me for a fool? You ain't just tryin' to get in my pants, are ya?”

Rayne couldn't help but chuckle, “I got into your pants before I told you I loved you, remember. Yes, I really love you, with all of my heart. Your all I have, baby. Without you, I would've died a long time ago. You saved my life. Or do you forget the day we met?”

Daryl opened up his arms, “Come here.”

Rayne crawled over to him and kissed his lips. She had missed the taste of his lips already. 

Daryl wrapped his arms around her, “No funny business now, Jersey. I'm injured.”

She just chuckled and curled up next to him and they both drifted off to sleep.

 

Daryl woke up the next morning to an empty bed. He rubbed his eyes and looked around for her. Just then Rayne appeared in the doorway with a tray of food.

“That's a first. Your up before I am?”

She smiled sweetly, “I didn't want to wake you up. You need your rest.”

Daryl sat up in bed, “I need to get out of this bed. I've had about enough rest.”

“Alright, I'll take you outside after we eat, but you need to lay down in the tent. No walking around for you yet.”

Daryl nodded and let out a long, annoyed sigh. Rayne helped Daryl outside to their tent. She opened up all the flaps so he could see everything that was going on around them and get some fresh air. Rayne was back and forth, helping out with chores. When she cane back to the tent she found Daryl poking holes in the screen.

“Will you quit poking holes in the damn screen. We are gonna get fucking bugs in here.”

He narrowed his eyes, “Quit hounding me, woman.”

“Hey, I thought we talked about this already. I would quit calling you redneck, if you quit calling me woman.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

When she walked by him, he smacked her on the ass. Which got him a returned, narrowed eyed look. 

“I hate just laying around. I get bored.”

“Well, I can teach you Gaelic.”

Daryl looked puzzled, “Gaelic?”

“Yeah, Irish.”

Daryl thought maybe she was pulling his leg, “You speak Irish?”

“Yes, I do. My grandmother taught me when I was very small. It was the only language we spoke to each other. Do you want to learn?”

Daryl shrugged his shoulders. He guessed that it would help pass the time.

Rayne sat on the bottom of the cot and put his legs over her lap. She looked so excited to teach him. She tied up her hair, “ Ok, repeat after me. Dia duit is ainm dom Daryl.”

Daryl felt a sudden ache in his groin as he listened to her accent come out as she spoke. He didn't know what she said and he didn't care. He just wanted to listen to her talk more.

His face grew a shade of red, “What does that mean?”

“It's, hello my name is Daryl. Now are you going to repeat it?”

“No I think I'll just listen to you talk for awhile.”

“Oh your no damn fun.”

Daryl was curious now, “Do you speak any other languages?”

“Yes, I do. I know, Irish, German, Italian, Russian and I also speak Sign Language.”

“Well ain't you well rounded.”

Just then Andrea walked over. Rayne stood up quickly, ready to pounce on her again like a wild animal. Daryl looked over at Rayne, “Easy killer.”

Andrea backed up and put her arms in the air, “I don't want any trouble. I just wanted to see if he was alright.”

Rayne narrowed her eyes, “He is fine.”

Daryl spoke up, “Calm down. She was protecting the camp. She is alright by me.” Daryl pointed his finger at Andrea, “But the next time you shoot me, ya best pray I'm dead.”

Rayne knew that any more tension between the group would start to pull everyone apart. That was the last thing they needed right now. If everyone was going to survive this, they all needed to stick together.

Rayne turned to Andrea, “Look, I'm sorry I hurt you so bad. I fucked up. I went into a blind rage. It's just...he is important to me and I wasn't sure he was going to live.”

“Yeah, I know. I feel like shit about it and I'm sorry. Can we try and put this behind us?”

“Yeah, how is you nose?”

Andrea chuckled, “Hershel says it should heal up just fine. If there is anything I can do for you guys please let me know. We are going to take some of the others out today and teach them to shoot, if you want to join in.”

“I'm a pretty good shot as it is. I'll be fine staying here.”

After everyone got back from training there was a lot of movement in camp. Something felt off somehow. Rayne could see Glenn and Lori, whispering to each other. She thought that he must know too. Well if Glenn knew then everyone else would find out soon too. Glenn was horrible at keeping secrets. Throughout the entire day, everyone seemed to be on edge. Things didn't calm down till later that night, just when people were starting to head off to bed. 

Rayne asked if Daryl wanted to go back into the house to sleep in a real bed. He told her 'no', that he would rather sleep in the tent. Rayne closed up the sides of the tent. She walked outside to poke at the fire, “Hey Daryl.”

“Yeah?”

She looked over in his direction, “What really happened to you out there?”

Daryl didn't want to tell her what really happened for fear that he would sound completely insane and Merle's words were still fresh in his mind. 

“I found the doll in the creek bed. When I went back up the ridge to look some more, the damn horse got spooked and threw me. I fell down the steep slope and landed in the creek below, with one of my arrows sticking me through the side.”

Rayne came back inside and zipped the flap up behind her. She began to take her jeans off so she could get into bed. Daryl stopped talking while he watched her undress. He couldn't concentrate on anything else but her curves.

“Keep going, I'm listening.” She had her back to him, so she couldn't see that he was gawking at her.

“Sorry, only enough blood to run one thing at a time and my brain just lost that battle the moment your pants came off.”

Rayne looked over at him, “Oh my God. Your ridiculous, I swear. Your not well enough for that yet.”

“I would be if you did all the work.” Daryl said to her as he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

“Oh, fuck you! I don't even want to hear that shit. The night before you went and got hurt, I did all the damn work.”

Daryl just smiled at her. She laid down next to him on their make-shift bed, which was just a large pile of blankets. She leaned over and kissed him lightly on the lips. When she tried to pull away, he pulled her back to him, kissing her more deeply. 

“Daryl, no. Your still really hurt.”

Daryl kissed her again, “And your gonna be too, if you don't start taking more of your damn clothes off. Come on, I need this.”

He rolled her on top of him and began kissing and licking her neck.

Rayne let out a soft moan, “Well when you put it like that. Who am I to say no.”

Rayne got up, doused the fire and returned to tend to her injured man.


	17. Chapter 17

Rayne crawled over Daryl's body till she got to his lips. She looked worried that she would hurt him. Daryl grinned wickedly at her and attacked her mouth. His tongue finding hers almost immediately. Daryl's hands trailed up and down her body. His hands traveled up into her hair as he laced his finger into her long, silky strands. He bucked his hips into hers. He could hear Rayne, almost purring on top of him. Daryl had about enough of the fore play, he needed her now. 

He stripped off most of her clothes quickly. He needed to feel her bare skin on his. Daryl wanted to feel something other than pain. Daryl left Rayne in her bra and panties. They were red lace and hugged her in all the right places. Her stomach was flatter than it was when they first met. She was losing more weight as the weeks dragged on. He liked a woman with some meat on her bones and Rayne was no acceptation. Rayne knew that she wasn't some skinny super model and she didn't care. She was more attractive and alluring than any super model in the world to him. That's what turned him on the most about her, that she wasn't afraid to flaunt what she had. Rayne lifted her hips so that Daryl could take his pants off. When he was free of his clothes, Rayne sat back down on him. She pushed him down and placed her hands on his chest. She began to roll her hips and grind against him. Daryl could feel her wetness through her panties. Rayne let her hair down and reached around to unhook her bra. 

It took everything Daryl had in him, not to flip her over and take control. Not tonight, tonight needed to be slow. Rayne stood up and dropped her panties to the floor of the tent. She moved with grace back to her place on top of him. She grabbed him and guided him inside of her. Daryl bit at his bottom lip at the feel of her around him. She was so wet, so warm and just for him. 

Rayne guided Daryl's hands to her hips as she rolled them slowly. She wanted to take her time with him. Most of the time their sex was hard and full of passion. This time she would show him a different kind of passion. It wasn't what she was used to but she knew deep down that they both needed to take it slow. Rayne rolled and bucked her hips into him, as they stared at each other. He grabbed at her breast with one hand and with the other he rubbed her. She moaned as he touched her. “Oh fuck. Don't stop.” she moaned softly to him. Daryl bit his lip and watched his girl, move like a Goddess. A walker-killing, ass-kicking Goddess.

Before long, Rayne began to feel her stomach tighten and knew that she was close to the edge. She rolled her hips faster now. Daryl sat up a bit and grabbed for the back of her neck and pulled her down to his mouth. With her leaned over on him, he had more leverage now. He held her in his arms and slammed into her till her orgasm took over. He felt her her walls clench around him and with a few more pumps he was also letting himself go. 

Rayne laid on top of his sweaty skin, panting, trying to catch her breath. Daryl ran his hands through his hair, “Damn girl, where did ya learn those moves?”

Rayne smiled and pointed to herself, “Um, stripper, remember. We have only scratched the surface. I have tons of moves you haven't seen yet.”

They fell asleep in each others arms and woke up the next morning, before everyone else. Daryl rolled over and tried to fondle her but was in a lot of pain this morning.

Rayne looked over at him with worry in her eyes,“Ya alright, babe?”

“Yeah, I'm fine. Just kinda sore today. Could have been all that moving around we did, last night.”

He wiggled his brow at her. Rayne rolled her eyes, “If I remember right, you were the one that asked me to take care of you. So I did.”

Daryl was very slow moving this morning but he was on the mend and his wound was beginning to look at lot better already. He sat down in a camping chair around the fire with all the others. Rayne helped Carol make breakfast for everyone. When she was done serving everyone else she sat on the ground next to Daryl. She looked around at the group and saw that Glenn seemed to be on edge this morning. His eyes wandered all over the place and he couldn't sit still. Not much could get past Rayne. Her senses were sharp and she knew just how everyone in the group acted. 

She went back to eating and didn't think anything of it till Glenn stood up and walked around, “Um guys, the barns full of walkers.”

Shock and disbelief shot through everyone as they looked up at Glenn in horror. Immediately, they all stopped eating and took off toward the barn on the back of the property. Shane stood at the barn doors, looking through the slats of wood at all the walkers inside. 

He walked back toward Rick, “You can not tell me your alright with this.”

Rick's voice was full of anger, “No, I'm not, but we are guests here. This isn't our land.”

“Oh God, this is our lives, man.”

Glenn urged them, “Lower your voice.”

“We can't just sweep this under the rug.” said Andrea.

Shane paced back and forth, “We either gotta go in there, we gotta make things right or we just gotta go. Now, we have been talking about Ft. Benning for a long time.”

Rick interrupted him with an angry voice, “We can't go!”

“Why, Rick. Why?”

Carol spoke up softly, “Cause my daughter is still out there.”

Shane covered his face with his hands, “I think it's time that we all start to just consider the other possibility.” 

Rick looked over to Shane, “We are not leaving Sophia behind.”

Daryl started to get agitated, “I just found a damn doll two days ago.”

“You found her doll, Daryl. That's what ya did. You found a doll!”

Daryl raised his voice right back at Shane, “Man, you don't know what da hell your talkin' about.”

“I'm just sayin' what needs to be said here.”

Rayne narrowed her eyes at Shane, “I suggest you lower your voice and calm the fuck down.”

“No!” Shane turned to Daryl, “Let me tell you something else, man. If she was alive out there, seeing you coming, all methed out, with your buck knife, geek ears around your neck. She would run in the other direction.”

Daryl pointed at him, “You shut the fuck up!”

Rayne stepped up, “Fuck you, Shane.”

Rick got in between the brawl that was about to break out, trying to hold everyone back. 

Shane shouted at Daryl, “Boy, I'll beat you ass!”

Rayne slipped out of Rick's grip, “You can fucking try!”

Rick was too busy trying to hold back Daryl, that he couldn't get to Rayne in time. Rayne went after Shane. She pulled back her fist and slugged Shane right in the jaw, knocking him backwards. 

She yelled to Shane, “Come on, mother fucker. I fucking dare you to try. You want to be the big man around here. Well, come on then. Let's fucking see what your made of!”

Everyone was separated and silent now. Rick yelled at Rayne, “Rayne! No!”

She turned to Rick, “Fuck that, Rick. I'm sick and fucking tired of this piece of shit trying to tell us all what to do. Since you wont knock him down a peg or two, then I think I will.” She looked over to Shane again with hatred in her eyes, “You think you got the balls? Then come get some.”

Shane's anger was too intense for him to handle. He went after her and caught her in the jaw, pretty damn hard. It knocked her back a few steps. She lost her footing and fell to the ground. A gasp spread across the entire group. Lori shielded Carl from the fight the best she could. Daryl ran over to Rayne to try and help her up. She looked up at him with blood pouring out of her mouth. She gave Daryl a wink and then began to laugh. Daryl looked at her like she was losing her mind.

She got up uneasy and unbalanced, wiping the blood from her mouth with the back of her hand. She turned around, “Is that it? My fucking daddy hit harder than you do, pussy.”

Rage filled Shane at this point. He went after her again, this time he was determined to shut her up for good. Rick tried to grab Shane but he wasn't fast enough. As he came after her again, she stood her ground. She spit a mouthful of blood right in his face and threw the hardest hay-maker in her life. It connected with Shane's face and down he went, out like a light.

Rick walked over to her, “Rayne, this shit has got to stop!”

“No, Rick. I will not allow him to keep pushing us around. I will not stand for him trying to manipulate you or anyone else. I will die defending this group! I would take a bullet for each and every one of you to keep the group safe. Someone had to kick his ass to make him realize that all he is doing is hurting all of us. I will not see this group fail, nor will I see you trying to take on all the stress. I will do what I can to protect all of us.”

Not everyone liked how Rayne behaved, but they all knew she was right. They all knew she meant well and wanted to keep all of them safe. Daryl was in complete shock at what he just saw. He couldn't believe that she took Shane head on, and won. Shane began to stir at this point. Glenn went over to see if he was alright, but Shane pushed him away. His ego was crushed. Not only did he just get his ass kicked but by a girl, no less. 

Rick spoke with anger still in his voice, “Just let me talk to Hershel. Let me figure this out.”

Shane went after Rick, screaming at him, “What are you going to figure out?”

“If we're gonna stay, if we're gonna clean this barn. I have to talk him into it. This is his land.”

Dale walked over to Rick, “Hershel sees those things as people. Sick people, his wife, his step-son.”

Rick looked to Dale, confused, “You knew?”

“Yesterday. I talked to Hershel.”

Shane snapped at Dale, “And you waited the night?”

Dale snapped right back without of hesitation, “I thought we could survive one more night, we did! I was waiting till this morning to say something but Glenn wanted to be the one.”

Shane stomped around, “Man, this is crazy, Rick. If Hershel thinks those things are alive, you know...”

Just then the barn doors began to shake and the walkers were trying to get out. Everyone's attention immediately went to the barn. Most of the others backed away in fear. Some of them just stood their ground as the walkers snapped and snarled from inside. They all thought it would be a good idea to leave so they didn't agitate the walkers any further. Everyone split up and went back to camp to try and pretend that everything was back to normal. 

Daryl took Rayne by the arm and put it over his shoulder so she could lean on him while they walked back to their tent. She looked into his eyes and smiled at him wickedly. Daryl just shook his head at her. He sat her down on the ground and went to grab her a bucket of water so she could wash off all the blood. 

He came back with the bucket and set it down in front of her, “As much as watching you kick his ass is a turn on, I can fight my own battles, ya know.”

Rayne dipped her hands in the bucket and brought it to her face and mouth. She swished the water around in her mouth and spit it out on the ground, “Yeah, I know you can but, your on the mend and I didn't want you to reopen your wounds. I'm just trying to help. I don't want you or anyone else to think that your hiding behind me. I just want you healthy and safe. I'm not trying to hurt your redneck, manliness or anything.”

Daryl leaned into her and whispered into her hair, “Shouldn't it be me behind you?”

Rayne rolled her eyes and bumped him with her shoulder. She tried to hide the fact that her heart was beating a mile a minute and her thighs were aching all over again. 

James and Kelsey came over to check on Rayne. James looked down at her, “Damn girl, remind me never to piss you off.”

Kelsey said in a more serious voice, “Are you alright? Jesus, first your hands, now your face. You need to quit getting beat up. I know you want to protect the group but if your hurt, what good are you to us then?”

Rayne nodded her head, “Yeah, I suppose you're right.”

Just then Rick showed up and looked right down at Rayne with out acknowledging anyone else, “Walk with me.”

“Oh man, I'm in trouble now.” she said to Daryl with a wink. She took another handful of water into her mouth. She stood and spit yet another mouthful of blood out on the ground and began to walk with Rick. They walked the property line together in silence for awhile as Rick gathered his thoughts.

He looked over at her, “I know your trying to protect everyone, Rayne. The way you're going about it is all wrong though. It's bad enough I never know how Daryl is going to react to things. Now it seems, I have to worry about you as well. I can tell you have had a hard life. I know that's not easy to handle but, I need someone in this group who is level headed.”

Rayne just looked at him, letting him finish.

“You can not go around punching people in the face anymore, even if it was enjoyable to watch.” Rick couldn't help the grin that slightly spread across his face. “You need to try and keep your anger at bay, save it for the walkers. What if Hershel won't let us clear the barn? You gonna punch him in the face?”

Rayne crossed her arms under her chest, “No, probably not but, I see your point. I know my ways of doing things are not the best but, I just didn't know what else to do. Shane is getting out of control. He tries to lead this group, when he shouldn't. If he was, we would all be dead by now. I will do whatever I can to help you, Rick. I care for you and your family very much. There is nothing I wouldn't do to protect all of us. Just know that Shane is a danger to us all.”

“I know, Rayne, I know. The first thing I need you to do is go have a talk with Shane. I have asked the two of you to be civil before and I will not ask again. Talk to him this time, not use your fists. I need to go have a talk with Hershel. After you're done talking to Shane, I need you to stand watch.”

“Uhhgg, fine I will go 'talk' to Shane. It's not going to help anything but, for you, I will. Do you want me to relieve Glenn for the day?”

Rick nodded to her. Rayne smiled at him, “You got it boss man.”

As Rayne began to walk away, Rick called out to her, “Hey, Rayne. What do you mean by he is a danger?”

“Your a smart man, Rick. In time you will know what I mean. Shane wants things he cannot have. It makes him dangerous. Especially to you.”

With that, she walked back toward her tent. Rayne took the long way back, to help clear her mind. She needed to think things through if she was actually going to sit down and talk to Shane. Once she made her way back to her tent, the only person she found was Kelsey.

“Where is Daryl?”

Kelsey looked up at her, “He took off toward the stables. I think he was trying to go after Sophia again but Carol went after him.”

Rayne ran her fingers through her hair, “Oh, good fucking lord. I swear that man is going to give me gray fucking hair.”

Kelsey just laughed at her. Rayne looked over in the direction of the stable and threw her hand out to the side, “Let Carol deal with him for now. I need to go have a talk with 'officer fuck-head'. Wish me luck.”

“Ha, yeah good luck with that.”

Rayne took off toward the walker-filled barn, to find Shane sitting on a rusted piece of farm equipment. Shane looked over at her and scoffed, “Want to go round two?”

“Nope, just here to talk.”

“Oh yeah, Rick send ya?”

“Yup, look Shane, I have a tendency to let my anger get the best of me. I lash out and not think about what I'm doing, but you do the same thing. Your more of a let's get shit done, kind of guy, rather than sitting down and thinking about things before you do them. I can respect that, I am the same way. You're just an asshole about it. I know you don't like me much which is fine, because I don't like you either. If we are all going to survive this world, we need to stick together as a group. All we do is fight with each other when we should be more worried about the dead things walking amongst us.”

“What do you think I'm trying to do here? I'm trying to keep everyone safe and a barn full of walkers isn't safe for anyone.”

“Yeah, no shit! Fighting with Rick isn't the way to get anything done. This isn't our place. We don't make the rules around here, Hershel does. I'm not here to fight with you. Listen, I'll stay out of your way and you stay out of mine. But don't you dare think for a second that if you step out of line again, I wont knock you on your fucking ass again!”

“You know what, why don't you go back to your methed out, hick of a boyfriend. An' if you ever threaten me again, I'll kill you.”

Rayne turned around to walk away, “You can try, Shane. You can try!”


	18. Chapter 18

Rayne headed back to camp. When she got closer to the house she bumped into Rick. His face told her that his talk with Hershel didn't go so well. Rayne made her way through the yard to her tent. 

She saw that Daryl was sitting in a lawn chair in front of her tent, “I heard you were out causing trouble again. You didn't cuss out poor Carol, did you?”

He looked up at her, “I don't cause trouble. All I do is sit around on my ass now.”

She smiled slightly, “Well then, get off your ass and come stand watch with me.”

“On top of the RV, in the hot ass sun. No thank you, I'd rather sit here.” There was just something about the way he got sassy with her, that she found intoxicating.

Rayne rolled her eyes at him, “Suit yourself, cranky ass. That's where I'll be if ya need anything.” She kissed his cheek sweetly and began to walk away.

He watched her walking away, admiring the way her body moved. One of his favorite things now was to watch her walk away. He loved to see her ready for anything with that bow slung over her shoulder. 

“Hey stud.” Rayne called to Glenn.

Glenn looked around and then down to Rayne with a half smile, “Hey yourself. What are you doing here?”

“I'm kicking you out of that seat. Rick said I'm to take your watch. Seems I'm in trouble with the boss man.” Rayne climbed the RV and Glenn handed her the rifle. Rayne watched the fields for awhile, just letting her mind wander. She was still aware of all the things going on around her. She caught sight of Shane and Lori, off in the distance, arguing with each other. Rayne thought to herself, 'Hmm, wonder if he knows too.' 

Rayne went back to watching the fields. Her mind went to Sophia, and how she was as determined to find her as Daryl was. Nothing was going to stop him from find her. Once Daryl was feeling better they would go back to the creek and look for her again. She would stay in the woods a hundred nights if it meant finding her. 

Her concentration was broken when Shane came storming into the RV, without a word to her. From the sound of it, he was looking for something and couldn't find it. He came out of the RV and looked right up at her, “You see where he went?”

Rayne looked down at him confused, “Who?”

Shane put his hands on his hips, “Don't even try to shit me, OK. Dale, did you see where Dale went?”

“I don't fucking know. Ask Glenn, he was on watch before me.”

Shane took off again, pissed off as usual. Rayne caught something out of the corner of her eye. It was Glenn, chasing after Maggie. She knew that he was head over heels for that girl. It was like watching a bad romance movie unfold, right in front of her. Rayne could hear Maggie yelling at Glenn but, couldn't make out any words. She yelled at him, he yelled back at her, he walked away, she kisses him. Yeah, just like in the movies. 

Rayne was so lost in the scene that was playing out before her that she didn't hear Daryl coming, “I don't know about you but, that shit looks familiar.”

She jumped, then laughed as they connected eyes, “You say that like it's been so long. We did the same shit last week.”

Daryl gave her a full smile this time and they laughed at each other. Daryl put his fingers in his mouth and gave the couple a loud wolf whistle.

When they looked over, Rayne shouted to Glenn, “Yeah Glenn, get some!”

Both of their faces turned bright red. Glenn smiled, “That's innocent, compared to the stuff I hear you guys doing.”

“Ya jealous?” Daryl asked him.

Glenn rolled his eyes as he and Maggie walked away. Daryl looked up at her, staring intently, with those luscious baby blues. She felt that familiar tightening this her stomach. He gave her a wink and she knew that he must be feeling much better. Even with the world gone to shit, all the man ever thought of was sex. She was left again to her thoughts. She hadn't seen Rick in awhile and wondered if he was alright. She knew he could handle himself but the thought still weighed heavy on her, that he might be hurt. She finished up her watch and got down to look for Dale. 

She met up with everyone gathered outside in front of the porch, including Daryl. Andrea and T-Dog came up and asked where Rick was. Andrea told the group that they last time she saw him, he took off with Hershel and everyone was supposed to leave a few hours ago.

Daryl spoke up, “Yeah, ya were. What the hell?”

“The last time I saw him, he never said anything about going out.” Rayne told the group.

Daryl paced again, “Damn it, isn't anyone taking this seriously? We got us a damn trail. Ah, here we go.”

Shane stalked toward the group with the bag of guns. Daryl asked, pointing to the bag, “What's all this?”

Shane looked over at him with fire in his eyes, “You with me man?”

He handed Daryl a shotgun, “Time to grow up.” He looked over to Andrea, “You already got yours?”

The mood of the group changed quickly. Everyone's face changed to worry. Shane handed off another gun to James.

T-Dog asked, “I thought we weren't allowed to carry?”

Shane told him and the rest of the group, “Yeah, well we can and we have to. Now look, It was one thing, sitting around here picking daisies when we thought this place was safe. But now we know it ain't.” Shane grabbed another gun and walked over to Glenn, “How about you man? You gonna protect yours?”

Glenn looked over at Maggie, then took the gun from Shane. Shane walked over to Rayne and with out a word, he handed her the gun that Rick took away from her. She took it and placed it in the back of her pants. Shane asked Maggie if she could shoot.

She came back with, “Can you stop? You do this, you hand out these guns. My dad will make you leave, tonight.”

Carl spoke up and told Shane that they couldn't leave, that they needed to stay. Shane got down on one knee in front of Carl, “Now look, Hershel, he's just gonna understand. Well, he's gonna have to. Now, we need to find Sophia, am I right? Now I want you to take this, you take it Carl and you keep your mother safe. Do whatever it takes, you know how. Go on, take the gun.”

Lori came out and saw Shane passing the gun off to Carl. She stepped in between the two of them, “Rick said no guns, this is not your call. This is not your decision to make.”

Suddenly, T-Dog spoke up looking out toward the field, “Oh shit!”

Everyone turned to see what T-Dog was looking at. They saw Rick, Hershel and Jimmy coming out of the woods. They had two walkers attached at the neck by some kind of pole you would see an animal catcher use. Shane took off in a full sprint toward them. Daryl and Rayne were the next ones to take off behind Shane.

Shane screamed, “What the hell you doing?”

“Shane, just back off.” yelled Rick.

Hershel asked, “Why do your people have guns?”

Shane was insane with anger, “Are you fucking kidding me? You see! You see what their holding on to?”

Hershel yelled back, “I see who I'm holding on to.”

Shane shook his head, “Nah man, you don't.”

Rick spoke up trying not to take the attention off the snapping walker that was on the end of his pole, “Shane, just let him do this. Then we can talk.”

Shane screamed louder than before, “What do you want to talk about, Rick? These things ain't sick. They're not people, their dead. Ain't gotta feel nothing for 'em cause all they do is kill. These things right here. They're the things that killed Amy. They killed Otis, they'll kill all of us...”

Rick yelled, interrupting Shane, “Shane, shut up!”

Rayne, Daryl and James came along side Rick, their weapons at the ready. Rayne was grateful that she didn't leave her bow behind. She had her gun tucked in the back of her pants in case things got out of control. Her bow was all she ever really needed though. 

Shane stood in front of Hershel, “Hey Hershel, man let me ask you somethin'.” He pulled out his gun, “Could a living, breathing person, could they walk away from this?” Shane fired off three rounds directly into the walkers chest.

Rick screamed at Shane in protest. Hershel just watched as the walker didn't fall to the ground like a normal person would.

Shane continued, “Now, that's three rounds in the chest. Can someone who's alive, could they jus' take that? Why is it still comin'?” Shane popped off two more rounds, “That's it's heart, it's lungs. Why is it still coming?” Shane fired three more rounds into it.

Rick shouted, “Shane, enough!”

Shane began to walk up to the walker saying, “Yeah, your right man. That is enough.” Shane shot it right in the head and it feel to the ground. 

For once, Rayne actually agreed with what Shane was doing. He was going about it in a harsh way but, finally something was getting done. Walkers were dangerous and needed to be killed. They were not the sick people as Hershel thought that they were. They were a threat.

Everyone else was in shock. Rayne looked over at Daryl and they made eye contact. Daryl nodded his head slightly, letting her know that everything was going to be alright.

Shane addressed the group again, “Enough! Risking our lives for a little girl that is gone. Enough, living next to a barn full of things that are trying to kill us. Enough! Rick, it ain't like it was before. Now, if y'all wanna live, if you want to survive. You gotta fight for it. I'm talking about fighting, right here, right now.”

Shane ran toward the barn doors. Rick screamed at Hershel to take the snare pole. He begged Hershel to take it, to look at him. Hershel was in pure shock. There was no way that Rick's voice was going to bring him back from that. Rayne knocked an arrow into her bow string. She knew that what was about to happen, was going to be bad. Shane attacked the door, finally breaking off the lock. He pulled the board from the door, releasing the walkers that lingered inside. Rayne's eyes grew wide as she watched them begin to pour out of the barn. 

Shane stood far enough back from the door to pick them off as they came through. When the first one appeared, Shane shot it right in the head. Andrea, T-Dog, James, Daryl and Rayne all formed a line on either side of Shane to take out every single walker that came after them. Rayne let her first arrow fly and caught one right between the eyes. She quickly pulled another arrow from it's place in the holder on the side of her bow. She let out a deep breath and let another one loose. She caught a female walker in the chest. Daryl quickly shot it in the face and it went down. Glenn came up beside Rayne, with tears in his eyes. Shane turned around and shared a look with Rick. He shot the walker that Rick was holding onto right in the head. It went down to the ground which freed Rick's hands. 

Everyone continued to shoot till the walkers stopped coming. For a slight moment there was a silent sigh of relief throughout the group. There would be no threat of walkers tonight. Suddenly there came a low moaning from within the barn once again. Rayne thought for a second that maybe she was dreaming all of this. What she was seeing couldn't be real. From out of the darkness came the little figure of Sophia, or what once was Sophia. She cringed away from the sunlight as she came out of the barn. She walked slowly toward the group. The tears fell from Rayne's eyes without her even knowing they were coming. Carol ran toward what used to be her daughter and called out for her as she cried. Daryl grabbed her before she could get any closer and they fell to the ground. Rayne could hear Kelsey crying behind her and saw James grab her and pull her close to him. All of Rayne's fears were coming true right before her eyes as she listened to Sophia growl. How could this have happened? How could Daryl and her have missed the signs of her coming toward the farm. How did she even get in there? All these questions didn't seem to matter anymore now that she had been turned. All of the sweat and blood that her and Daryl had shed in search of this little girl was now in vein.

Rick stepped up toward her, pulling out his gun. There was one more gunshot that echoed through the field that day and then there was silence once again.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I messed up and switched the chapters! Ughh! This is what I get for not paying attention! Sorry guys :/

The world seemed to go silent for a moment as Rayne looked down upon the dead body of Sophia. The sound of Carol's sobbing brought Rayne out of her trance. She looked back at Daryl, who was holding on to Carol. She could see the disappointment in his eyes. Daryl picked her up and tried to tell her not to look. Carol pushed him away and ran off toward the RV. Beth began to walk toward the pile of walkers. Rick tried to calm her down and keep her away but, she pushed him aside as well. She went over to what used to be her mother. She pushed aside a walker that had landed on top of her mother. 

As she turned her mother over to look at her, she came back to life and went after Beth. Beth screamed as it tried to grab her. Adrenaline coursed through Rayne's veins again as she ran to help Beth. Shane came up behind Beth and pulled her away. Glenn sat on the walker and grabbed it's hands. T-Dog stomped on it's head a few times. It was still snarling and snapping. Andrea came out of no where with a fucking scythe, like the god damn Grim Reaper, and struck it in the head. 

Rayne's eyes grew wide. She looked over at Andrea, “Holy fucking hell.”

After the threat of walkers was taken care of once again, Rayne looked around at the group. Rick looked so lost and confused, in fact the entire group did at this point. Slowly, everyone began to walk off in different directions. Rayne and Daryl split off in different directions as well. 

Hershel began to lead his family back into the house, when Shane started to follow after him, “We have been out combing these woods, looking for her, and she was in there all along. You knew!”

Rayne decided to follow and see what Hershel had to say about it. As they reached the porch, Maggie told Shane to leave them alone. Hershel just shook his head and told Shane that he didn't know that Sophia was in there. 

Shane pointed his finger at Hershel, “That's bullshit, I think you knew all along. Why was she in there?”

Hershel threw his hands in the air, “Otis put those people in the barn. Maybe he found her, put her in there.”

Shane narrowed his eyes, “Do you expect me to believe that?”

Rick tried his best to get his best friend to shut up, but like always, it didn't work. 

Hershel raised his voice, “I don't care what you believe.”

The two men were now in each others faces. Rick got in between them, pushing them apart. He was always the one to try and keep the peace. Shane began to shove Hershel, when Maggie stepped in and smacked him on the side of the face. “Don't you touch him!” she yelled.

Shane took a few steps back and looked her dead in the eyes. Maggie took a deep breath, “Haven't you done enough?”

Hershel began to walk back into his house with his family in tow. He turned to the group once more, “I mean it. Off my land.”

Rayne couldn't take anymore of it today. Once Hershel had gone into the house, she turned and left. She left Rick and Shane to fight amongst themselves. She didn't want to hear anymore of Shane's crap today. As she was walking, she began to think. She felt defeated, like a complete failure. Now they would all have to leave the safety of the farm. Back out into the walker infested world that seemed to surround them. She found herself walking the vast fields of Hershel's farm. She tried with all her might to compose herself, but nothing worked. She walked and cried softly. There was just too much going on inside of her right now. She watched as Daryl entered the RV, probably checking on Carol. How awful Daryl must feel. She could see that he was hurting. He tried so hard to find that little girl and almost lost his life in the process. 

Rayne took her time going back toward the barn. She figured the least she could do is go back and help everyone clean up the bodies. When she walked up on the group, Shane was walking away saying something about getting a truck. Rayne just stood there with the others, her thumbs tucked in her belt loops. She stared at the ground, trying not to listen to anything being said. 

She lifted her head when she heard Andrea make the comment, “We bury the ones we love and we burn the rest.”

At this point it really didn't matter to Rayne anymore. Why take the time to bury them? The world wasn't the same anymore. Everyone was going to die anyway, why even bother? Rayne's heart was colder and harder than it's been in a long time. She let her guard down and let Daryl in. She tried to convince herself that the world wasn't over but, there was no avoiding it now. Something inside of her said that this was just the beginning of the heart ache and pain. She ignored Rick and Lori talking to each other. He was probably filling her in about what happened with Hershel. 

Andrea handed Rayne a shovel, “Come on, let's get to work.”

Rayne nodded, “Yeah.”

Andrea, Rayne, T-Dog, Shane and Jimmy all dug graves for their fallen loved ones. The bodies laid next to the open graves, wrapped in blankets. Lori made her way to the RV to get Carol so they could start the makeshift service. Daryl and Lori appeared out of the RV a few moments later, without Carol. Apparently she didn't feel the need to be present as they buried her daughter. Rayne could understand it though, her daughter died a long time ago. 

Daryl walked up beside Rayne and they connected eyes. Rayne made a motion with her head toward the RV, with a confused look. Daryl bit the inside of his cheek and sadly shook his head. There didn't seem to be a need for words between them right now. They both knew each other well enough at this point. They didn't need to talk to one another to know what the other one was thinking. Where there was silence, there was pain. 

Kelsey came along side Rayne and placed her head on her shoulder. Rayne put her arm around her friend, “It's gonna be alright. She is in a better place now or whatever the fuck they say to make people feel better.”

Kelsey looked up at her and gave her a half smile, “Yeah, I guess.”

As they finished up the service, everyone went off in different directions. Daryl took off to her right, far away from the rest of the group. Rayne stood there, unsure of what to do next. She followed after T-Dog and Andrea to help clean up bodies. She watched as Andrea and the others struggled to pick up the bodies and put them into the back of the pick up. 'There had to be a better way to pick them up', she thought. She went into the barn to look around. There, hanging on the wall, was a hook with a handle that was used for lifting heavy hay bails. She smiled and grabbed it off the wall. She came out of the barn still with the same smile on her face.

T-Dog looked at her almost scared, “Yo girl, what do you plan on doing with that thing?”

She stood over a walker, “Something you guys probably aren't going to like. You know, the usual shit I do.”

Before anyone could even begin to speak, she swung the hook right into the chest of the walker. She drug the hook back until she hooked it under the collar bone. With the walker hooked, she drug it to the truck with ease. 

Rick just shook his head, “A smart girl you are, Rayne. We are lucky to have you around.”

Rayne jumped down off the truck after she was done loading the body in, “You may be lucky that I'm still around but, none of you even want me here. So let's just cut the bullshit for now and load these nasty fucking things up.”

Rayne knew that none of the them really liked her, save for Daryl and Kelsey. She didn't want them to have to pretend to like her only because she was useful. She knew that once she wasn't useful anymore they would make her leave. Like right now, there was no more need for her tracking skills if Sophia wasn't missing anymore. It was a nice feeling to have a group of people depending on her and Daryl to find her. 

T-Dog began to talk, “Good thing Shane did what he did.”

Dale looked over to T-Dog in disbelief, “You can't tell me that you think it was right.”

Rick chimed in, “It wasn't. It will cost us with Hershel.”

Rayne scoffed, “Yeah well, he is just gonna have to get over it. What's done is done.”

Everyone seemed to split up after that comment. T-Dog climbed in the truck and waited for the girls to be finished. Andrea kicked the tail gate to let T-Dog know that they were ready. Rayne and Andrea sat on the tailgate as T-Dog began to drive off slowly. As they began to drive, Rayne noticed that one of the arms of the walkers had fallen off the truck. Andrea called back to T-Dog so that he would stop. Rayne got off the truck before the truck came to complete stop and picked up the arm. As she walked back to the truck she looked over to Andrea. She lifted the arm in the air, “High five?”

Andrea wanted so badly not to laugh but she couldn't help it. Rayne laughed with her and threw the arm back into the bed of the truck. As Rayne sat back down on the tailgate, Andrea looked over at her, “Your one sick bitch, you know that right.”

Rayne laughed, “Oh trust me, your not the first person to tell me that.”

After the bodies were taken to the field and dumped, ready for burning. Andrea and Rayne made their way back to the farm house. They entered the house to find everyone in a state of panic. Apparently Beth had fallen into some kind of catatonic state. The shock must have finally gotten to her. She laid in the bed just staring at the ceiling. Maggie said that they needed to find her dad. Lori told them that Rick and Glenn had gone into town after him. Apparently Hershel was a bit of a drinker in his day. He had given it up a long time ago but with everything that had just happened, she didn't blame him. Lori had gone out of the room with Andrea. After a few minutes, Rayne saw Lori take off into the field. Andrea looked confused as to what Lori was doing but Rayne knew exactly what she was going to go do. Rayne looked over to Andrea, “He ain't gonna help her.”

Andrea asked, “Would you?”

Rayne lifted an eyebrow, “On a suicide mission into town by myself, hell no. Rick and Glenn are perfectly capable of bringing him back.”

After awhile in the house Rayne felt like she needed some air. There was nothing more she could do for Beth. Nothing was going to bring her out of that state accept herself when she was able to cope with what was happening. When Rayne left the house, she spotted Kelsey. She walked over to her to see if she was doing alright. 

Rayne asked her, “Is he out in the field?”

Kelsey's eyes were red, as if she were crying, “Yeah, I guess. I saw Lori leaving the house, looking pretty worried. Is everything alright?”

Rayne pulled her hair up, “Not really. Beth has fallen into some kind of catatonic state. Hershel took off into town, to the bar. Rick and Glenn went out to bring him back to help Beth.”

Kelsey just shook her head, “Well I guess she found him and didn't like what he had to say because she looked pissed.”

Rayne smirked, “Does anyone really like what he says? He is hurting really bad right now. You can just see it in his eyes.”

Kelsey placed her hand on Rayne's shoulder, “He isn't the only one hurting. Everyone is pretty messed up over all this. You were out there looking for her just as much as he was.” Kelsey saw her face change into sadness. She could see her friend was hurting just as much as Daryl was, “Maybe you should go see if he wants any company.”

Rayne rubbed her hands over her face, “Yeah, I guess. Although I doubt he wants any company, even from me. I'll catch up with you later. Holler if Rick comes back.”

Rayne took a deep breath and headed off across the field to see what Daryl was up to. When she got closer, she could see him sitting on what used to be an old fireplace of some find. He looked up at her when she finally came up on him.

“You here to pester me too?” he asked. 

She gave him a half smile, “I thought that was my job now. To pester you till you got rid of me.”

Daryl didn't say a word to her, just went back to carving out new arrows. Rayne walked over and sat down beside him. She pulled out her buck knife from her pocket. She grabbed one of the sticks and began to help him strip off all the bark. Just as he was doing. 

There was no more talking between them once again. They both needed time to heal from all this. Before all of this, they would go off on their own, shut down and try to deal with whatever was wrong with them. Now it seemed that they enjoyed just sitting next to each other in silence. They stole a few glances at each other but still they never said a word. They both enjoyed the others company more than they knew. Daryl would never admit it out loud but he was glad that she was there by his side. When he needed her the most. To him that was the best kind of woman a man could ever ask for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so now that I have fixed things I'm going to go post the next chapter


	20. Chapter 20

The sun was beginning to set over the horizon. Daryl looked up at the fading light. He glanced over at the beautiful woman sitting quietly next to him. He stood up, brushed himself off and made his way through the field. 

Rayne cocked her eyebrow, wondering where he was going, “Bye.” She shook her head as she watched him walk away. She stopped working on the arrows and put her buck knife back in her pocket. She brushed herself off and walked around for a bit. She was unsure of what to do with herself, she felt out of place. She leaned against a tree, facing west, just watching the sunset. The field took on a radiant orange color. She watched as the light breeze pushed the tall grass like a huge orange ocean. It felt good to see the beauty of the world again. She had missed it. Things like this would be her inspiration for paintings. She wished that she could paint again. Maybe one day she would get her hands on some. 

Leaning her head against the tree, she thought about Sophia. How many days had she been out there on her own? When did she get bit? These questions weighted heavy on her mind. It made the pain and sorrow she felt so much more heavy. Was it her fault that they didn't find her quickly enough? Was she slowing him down? Too many questions......then she thought of Daryl. He was such a complex man to deal with but, yet again so was she. Whenever they are together they peel layers of each other away without even knowing that they are doing it. The love they have for each other is a strange kind of love. It's not the passion filled kind you read about in books, it's real love. It's messy, it's ugly, it's complicated. Maybe that's why she did love him so much, because their love was complicated. 

She heard a twig snap behind her. She didn't need to be on alert for walkers, she knew it was him. She smiled to herself before turning around to face him. He had the tent that they shared in his hands. She was a bit puzzled that he only had the only. Where the hell was she supposed to sleep? Maybe he still wanted her to sleep with him. 

“Only one?” she asked him.

He tossed it to the ground, “Gave the other one to James, remember?”

Rayne tossed her hair over to the other side, “Oh yeah, I had forgotten. Want some help?”

Daryl tried to ignore her long and slender open neck, “Nah, don' need no damn help.”

Rayne rolled her eyes and walked away to gather firewood, muttering to herself, “Of course you don't.”

By the time that she had returned with wood, he was already done with the tent and retrieving all of their belongings. She looked around, thinking to herself, that he had done a really good job in getting their little campsite together. She sighed when she thought of how much she hated camping now. What she wouldn't give for a bed or a real pillow!

Daryl sat by the fireplace waiting for Rayne to bring the wood. Rayne dropped the wood at his feet and sat down beside him. She lit a cigarette and passed him the lighter. After he lit the fire, she passed him the cigarette. He inhaled deeply. She watched as the smoke billowed from his mouth and nose. He put his head back and moaned at the taste of it. They were both running really low and didn't smoke as often as they did before. But, on a day like today they both needed one really bad. Since Daryl didn't seem to want to give that one up, she just lit another one.

It was getting dark by now and it seemed that Rick and the others weren't back yet. Rayne began to worry just a little bit. She knew that Rick could take care of himself but the fact that he wasn't back yet , still worried her. 

Just then, Carol came running up out of no where, “We can't find Lori and the others aren't back yet either.”

She seemed to look right at Daryl. Rayne stepped back and let them talk but, was still within listening distance. 

Daryl looked at Carol then looked away, “Dumb bitch musta' gone off lookin' for 'em.”

Carol looked at him in disbelief, “What?”

Daryl continued to talk without looking at her, “Yeah, she asked me to go. I told her I was done being an errand boy.”

Carol questioned him, “And you didn't say anything?”

Daryl went quiet then. Carol began to walk away. She looked over at Rayne, then headed back to Daryl, “Don't do this, please. I already lost my little girl. I don't want to lose the two of you either.”

Daryl got right in her face, “Yeah, that wasn't my problem neither.” His words were like venom. He was walked away into the tent. 

Carol looked over to Rayne, “Please talk to him.”

Rayne's voice was calm but full of pain, “Don't think that will do much good. He is hurt, we both are.”

With that, Carol walked back toward the house without another word. After awhile Rayne saw a car speed off the farm. She assumed that it was Shane going after Lori. She made her way to the tent and ducked inside, “You hungry?”

Daryl looked at her from over his shoulder, “No, now leave me be.”

Rayne let out a sigh, “Alright Dixon. I'm always gonna be around ya know. Even when you don't want me to be. I will always be there.”

With that said, she left him to his thoughts. Rayne sat and poked at the fire for what seemed like forever. She could wait for him all night if she needed too, but she knew he would come around soon. Just as she thought that, he came out of the tent. He didn't say anything to her. He just went and strung up some rabbits that he had caught earlier. Rayne had moved out of his way to give him some space. Off in the distance she could see Carol coming over again. Carol walked along the string of animals and stopped when she saw the walker ears that he had hung up as well.

“What are you doing?” asked Daryl as he came out of no where and scared Carol. 

Carol spoke softly, “Keeping an eye on you.” She looked over to Rayne, “both of you.”

Daryl scoffed, “Well ain't you a peach.”

Carol pulled back looking at the two of them, “I'm not gonna let either of you pull away. You both have earned your place.”

Daryl's anger made an appearance now, “If you spent half your time minding your daughter’s business, instead of sticking your nose in everyone elses, she'd still be alive!”

Carol just stood there. She told him 'to go ahead', like she wanted him to yell at her. Carol knew how Daryl worked. She knew that he felt anger easier than anything else. Rayne just watched him yell at her and she just stood there, just like she does. Carol has very profound motherly instincts, With Sophia being gone, maybe she thought that she needed to protect Daryl and watch over him. Like any good mother would do for a child. Daryl wasn't a child, he was a grown man. If anyone was going to protect him, it was going to be Rayne. Carol didn't want to overstep Rayne in anyway, so she left without another word. 

Rayne crossed her arms across her chest, “She is just looking out for you, ya know.”

Daryl was enraged at this point, “I don' fuckin' care! She needs to leave me tha hell alone and so do you. I don't need to be looked after like a fucking child.”

Rayne knew that he was lashing out in anger like usual but, with her heart still sore and broken. She lashed back at him, “Do you think your the only one hurting, Daryl? I stuck my neck out for that little girl too ya know. I'm invested in this just as much as you are. You want to lash out and be an asshole like usual, then you do it to me. Blame me for not having enough skills to find her. But don't take it out on Carol and quit blaming yourself. You did everything you could to find her.”

Daryl pointed his finger in her face, “Can't you ever shut up! You don't know shit. Maybe if you didn't get in my fuckin' way all the time, I might have found her in time.”

Rayne smacked his hand out of her face, “Fuck you Dixon! Are you too stupid to figure out that these people actually care about you, about us! Carols right, we have earned our place. We are apart of this group now. Weather you want to be or not, these people need us. I thought that we were a lot alike but I guess not. At least I know when people care about me.”

Daryl got in her face once again, “Yeah, well we ain't. I ain't some dumb fuckin' bitch that went and got herself raped and now I'm all fucked up in the head.” He swung his finger around his head, making the international sign for crazy. 

Rayne stepped back like she had gotten the wind knocked out of her. Never in a million years did she think that he would throw that back in her face. Out of all the hurtful things Daryl has said to her in the past weeks, this one hurt the most. Her mouth hung open for a minute. Then she closed it and her entire body went ridged. Her eyes welled up with tears, “That was low, Daryl. Really fucking low.”

She walked past him without another word. He reached out and grabbed at her arm. She flung her head around and shot him a look of pure hatred. She ripped her arm out from his grip and walked away. Daryl knew that he had really fucked things up this time. Just when he was getting used to the idea of having a good woman by his side too. He whispered under his breath, “Fuck.”

He ran a few feet and caught up to her. He grabbed both of her arms from behind this time. Before Rayne knew what was happening, her body took over. She closed her fist, swung around and cracked Daryl right across the jaw. Not with as much force as she hit Shane with but, enough for him to know that she was pissed. 

Daryl's face was mostly full of anger but, with a bit of shock as he rubbed his thumb across his bottom lip. He asked her, “What the fuck is wrong with you!?”

Rayne yelled at the top of her lungs, “Your an asshole! I fucking hate you!!” She pushed at him hard. He backed up toward their camp. When she came at him again he pushed at her. He had spun her around so that she was walking backward toward their camp. She fought him, trying to push him away as he got closer to her. All the while, her hot tears flowed down her cheeks. She tried to slap him but he caught her hand in his. Daryl tried with all his might to make her stop. They were like to hungry animals fighting over a bone. Neither one of them would give up. Daryl backed her up all the way into the brick fireplace. Her back slammed up against it. He didn't want to hurt her, he just wanted to make her stop fighting him. He grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head. She tried to kick him as the tears still ran down her face. 

She screamed at him, “Get the fuck off of me!”

Daryl pinned her legs apart with his knees pressed into her thighs, “No, Rayne, No. Now jus' settle down. I ain't gonna hurt ya. You need to calm the fuck down.”

She slowly stopped her thrashing but, turned her head away from him, “Hurt me? You already have hurt me, asshole.”

Daryl's voice was calmer now for some reason, “Yeah, I know I did. Hey, will you look at me? Babe, look at me, damn it!”

She turned her head to look at him with fresh tears running down her face. Daryl continued to talk, “I know your pissed but, don't you dare say that you hate me when we both know that that's a lie. I know I fucked up real good this time. I didn't know what I was sayin'.”

Rayne seemed to stare right through him, “That's bullshit! You knew what you were sayin'. If I'm so fucked up, then why are you still around? If I got in your way so much, why did you take me out tracking with you every morning?”

Daryl sighed, “I don't fucking know. I think I might love you, even though you drive me crazy. I need you Jersey. We belong together.”

Rayne rolled her eyes, “You think laying on the Dixon charm really thick is gonna get you out of this one? I didn't tell you about my life to have you throw it back in my face. You think I asked him to rape me? I never asked for that! That's like asking you if you liked it when your daddy beat your ass so bad if left scars.” Daryl was taken back by that. Rayne continued, “See, it doesn't feel very good does it?”

He scoffed but knew that she was right. It did hurt to hear her say that. She never deserved all that and he should have never had said it. Daryl rolled his eyes, “Your right it does hurt. How can I make it up to you? I don't think I have ever said I was sorry this much in my whole damn life.” He pressed his forehead to hers, “Forgive me babe.”

Rayne began to wiggle, “Maybe if you loosened your grip I would.”

Daryl smiled wickedly at her and pressed against her pelvis, “I thought you said that you liked it rough?” He leaned into her neck and made sure to lower his voice, “I think maybe I'll try and seduce you and then maybe you wont be so mad at me anymore.”

Now matter how pissed she was at him, her body had something else in mind. Her thighs began the ache for him and not because his knees were pressing into them. “Daryl Dixon, are you trying to bribe me with sex?”

He began to kiss at her neck, leaving goosebumps all over her body, “Really good sex too. I wanna take you right here.”

She wanted to say no but she never did before so why start now. She was still hurt and he wasn't completely off the hook for that comment either but she just couldn't help herself. She wanted to feel his body against hers. To them it wasn't just sex, it was a way the expressed their love for each other. There were like animals when it came down to it. Rayne knew that she loved him and that he loved her. But for tonight, she was going to make him work for it. 

She pressed her lips to his briefly before finding his tongue. When she was done with his mouth she said to him sternly, “Your still in trouble though.”

Daryl kissed her quickly, “Whateva, jus' stop talkin'.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now that everything is fixed...i hope you enjoyed this chapter. Daryl messed up pretty bad this time but don't worry it will all work out:)


	21. Chapter 21

Daryl began to attack her mouth with a fever. She wanted to give in to him, but her sadness blocked her from it. Daryl had given up holding onto her tightly since she seemed not to fight him anymore. His hands traveled softly down her arms, lightly across her large breasts, then finally resting on her hips. 

She broke their kiss and pushed him away slightly, “I'm sorry Daryl, I just can't.”

Rayne took off, ducking inside the tent. All she could do was stand there with her hands laced in her hair thinking about her actions and his hurtful words. Why did she have to go and punch him? Maybe she wouldn't have if he wasn't such an asshole all the time. There was nothing that could be done now. She couldn't take it back even if she wanted to. 

She felt a surge of adrenaline when she felt his hands move across her waist. She didn't push him away even though she wanted to. She just put her hands over his. He moved her hair away from the side of her face so he could see her.

She smiled slightly, “I'm not crazy ya know.”

He smirked as he rested his lips on her bare shoulder, “Oh yeah you are but, I like ya kinda crazy. I can't take back the things I said.”

“I know.” Rayne hung her head a bit.

Daryl's hands rubbed across her flat stomach finding the bottom of her shirt. He lifted it up only a few inches and painfully slow, “I love you just the way you are. Unpredictable and sexy as hell. Everyone should know that they can't fuck wit' my girl.”

Rayne smiled, she loved to hear him say that. There was no denying it now. Everyone knew they were together. They were a team now. 

She turned around to look at him, “I will always be your girl, Dixon. No matter what happens, I will always be your girl. Your crazy, psychotic girl.”

Daryl's hands slid up her sides and under her shirt till they got to the bottom of her bra. She wanted to give in once again and let his hands work their magic but she had to stay firm on making him think about what he said. If she gave in he would never learn that she isn't always at his beckon call. 

Rayne signed heavily, “I don't think I have ever said this in my entire life but not tonight babe. I just can't right now.”

Daryl growled in protest but he understood, “Alright.”

Rayne left the tent to go sit by the fire and think about all the things that had just happened when she noticed Shane's car speeding down the driveway. She ran over to the tent and stuck her head in, “Shane is back. I'm going to go find out if he found Lori. Ya wanna come?”

Daryl looked like he wanted to say 'no' but, he took a deep breath and began to walk with Rayne toward the farm house. When they got close enough to see that Lori had indeed returned with Shane, they saw her yelling at him. She pushed him away from her. Most of the others had gathered to see what was going on and to see Lori. 

Shane rubbed his head saying, “First things first, I look after you. I gotta make sure the baby's OK.”

There was silence amongst the entire group that was standing there. Rayne looked over to Daryl wide eyed. 

Carl came out of nowhere, “Your having a baby!? Why didn't you tell me?”

All attention was on him now. His small face full of anger and hurt by the fact his mother didn't tell him about the baby. Rayne thought to herself, 'poor kid. She didn't even tell him'. 

Dale broke the awkward silence, “Come on, let's make sure your alright.”

Andrea guided Lori into the house so that she could get checked out by Hershel. Shane stood there, steaming and finally walked off as the rest of the group wandered off back to their business. 

Rayne looked over to Daryl, “Well I guess the cat's out of the bag now.”

Daryl just shook his head at her. He bumped his shoulder into her and began to walk back to their camp. 

 

The next day everyone was up early to go out and find Rick, Glenn and Hershel. Daryl had gotten Rayne up right before the sun had come up. Once they saw the others were up and about they headed over to the house to join in the search. The two of them now stood at the back of Shane's car, locked and loaded. They didn't know what to expect so they were prepared for anything. Daryl was wearing his vest that had angle wings on the back. Out of all his clothes she loved when he wore his riding gear. It was a pair of skin tight jeans and one of her many tight t-shirts for Rayne. She she was walking around getting things ready, Daryl couldn't help but stare at her. She walked around him and just as she was about to ask if he was ready, the truck came flying down the driveway. The two looked at each other, then back to the truck as it drove past them and pulled up to the house. Lori and Carl walked out of the house to greet Rick as he emerged from the truck. Rick embraced his family, happy to see them. Hershel and Glenn stepped out of the truck as well. 

Maggie flew off the porch, right past her father and into the arms of Glenn. She was so happy that he was safe. Hershel walked toward the house and told Patricia to prepare the shed for surgery. Glenn pushed her away a bit as his face was full of sadness. Rick noticed that Lori had been hurt. She explained that she went out to look for him and had gotten in a car accident. 

Just as she was getting ready to tell him the whole story, T-Dog spoke up and pointed toward the truck, “Who the hell is that?”

Glenn looked over to T-Dog and the group, “That's Randall.” 

Everyone looked to the back seat of the truck where there was a young man was blindfolded. He looked to be in a great amount of pain. Rayne wondered if he was bit. Rick would never bring an infected person back to the farm though. 'What the hell had happened out there?', thought Rayne. 

Hershel took the injured kid into the shed to work on him. Then Rick called everyone into the house to have what Rayne liked to call a “family meeting”. It always ended in a huge fight between Rick and Shane most of the time. Rayne and Daryl came into the dinning room and stood in the background just listening. They were trying to include themselves in what was going on within the group. 

Once everyone was gathered, Rick began to tell everyone what happened. He told them how Randall was left for dead by his group. Andrea asked, “What do we do with him?”

Hershel came in just then and added that his calf was pretty messed up and he wouldn't be on his feet for over a week. Rick said that he wants to take him out far away from the farm and set him on his way. Of course Shane had to give his thoughts, he told Rick that this kid was a threat. Weather or not he was blindfolded, this kid could go back to his people and lead them back to the farm. For the first time in a long time, Rayne agreed with Shane. If this kid had a group, he would find a way to get back to them. T-Dog suggested posting a guard so that he can be watched. Which also wasn't a bad idea. Shane went off on his usual temper tantrum about getting the kid some flowers and candy. Rayne just rolled her eyes. 

Hershel spoke up before Shane walked out the door, “Ya know we haven't even dealt with that you did at my barn yet! Let me make this perfectly clear once and for all. This is my farm! Now, I wanted you gone but Rick talked me out of it. That doesn't mean I have to like it. So do us both a favor. Keep you mouth shut.”

Shane shook his head and without another word, he walked out the door. Slamming the door behind him. Rayne looked over to Daryl with an evil grin on her face. It brought her such pleasure listening to people yell at Shane and putting him in his place. 

Rick put his hand on Hershel's shoulder and said, “Look, we aren't going to do anything about it today. Let's just cool off.”

Of course Andrea had to run off after Shane and lick his wounds or anything else her wanted her too. Daryl scoffed and walked out the door with Rayne right behind him. They walked back to their camp, off in the distance. 

When they got settled, Rayne leaned against a tree watching Daryl getting ready to go hunting, “So........the new guy?”

He didn't look at her, “Yeah, what 'bout him?”

She crossed her arms across her chest, “What do you think we should do with him?”

Daryl stopped and looked over at her, “Why does it matter what I think? I don't make the rules 'round here.”

Rayne sucked her teeth in annoyance, “I didn't say that you did and it matters to me. This is called talking, it's what normal people do.”

“Who said we was normal?” Daryl stood up, faced her and continued, “If I had it my way, I would get some information out of him about his so called group. Then I would feed him to the fucking walkers.”

Rayne smiled her usual sexy smile, “Have I told you lately that I love the way you think, redneck.”

Daryl glared at her, “Now your just trying to piss me off. I thought we had a deal about that?”

She couldn't help but tease him, it was just in her nature. She flipped her lip ring with her tongue, just the way he liked, “oops....”

Daryl moved closer to her, “Stop it, or I'll...”

As he talked, Rayne side stepped him and moved around to his back. She whispered lightly against the back of his neck, “Or you'll what?”

She saw the tiny hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as she spoke. Daryl let out a low growl from deep within his throat as he looked over his shoulder at her. Rayne picked up her bow and threw it over her head. She grabbed her knife from the log that she had stuck it in. She placed it in it's sheath that was always at her hip. 

“Come in, let's go hunting.” she smiled wickedly. 

Daryl was a bit confused. It was like she was flirting with him all over again. She was always a flirt and a tease but this time it was like it was when they first met. Over the months they had spent together there was always flirting between them but this time she came off stronger than usual. Daryl smiled and thought to himself 'she is going to git it tonight'. The two of them set off for the woods like normal.

 

A few hours later they returned with a few plump rabbits. They sat together and cleaned their kill. There was no talking between them now but Daryl couldn't help steal a few glances at her. He really liked to watch her, it didn't matter what she was doing. He just liked to watch her. Rayne could feel that he was looking at her but she ignored him purposely. She knew that he was confused about what happened before but she wasn't at all. She knew what she was doing. She was going to make him wait and make him suffer a bit for saying those hurtful things. 

When they were done cleaning the rabbits, Rayne picked them up, “I'm going to bring these to the house. I'll be right back.”

Daryl nodded his head. She leaned down and kissed him, letting her lips linger longer than usual. She walked up to the house and was greeted by Maggie who was on the back porch. Rayne handed the skinned rabbits over to her and asked, “How's Beth doing?”

Maggie sighed, “Better now but she tried to kill herself this afternoon. I left her Andrea who decided that she should 'make her own choice'.”

“Oh shit! Look, I'm not saying that what Andrea did was right but everyone deserves to make their own choices in life. That's what separates the adults from the children. Maybe Beth wanted to be more of an adult.”

Maggie crossed her arms, “Maybe your right, but letting her slit her wrists wasn't the best choice either.”

Rayne smiled, “No but this is Andrea we are talking about here. She ain't the sharpest tool in the shed. Have a good night Maggie.”

Maggie smiled and turned to go back into the house. Rayne made the walk back to her camp. She could see that he had already started a fire for them. She walked up and sat beside him in front of the fire. They sat there for awhile till Rayne scooted closer and laid her head on his shoulder. He kissed the top of her head and went back to staring into the fire.


	22. Chapter 22

Daryl woke up before the break of dawn. He sat up and rubbed his eyes looking next to him at a sleeping Rayne. The nights were getting colder so she was wearing more clothes than she usually did. They still laid next to each other at night even though she was acting so strange as of late. She still wanted to be near him and feel his body pressed up against hers. 

As Daryl walked out of the tent he could see a figure off in the distance. He grabbed for his crossbow but as the figure got closer he saw that it was Rick. He wondered why he was up so early and headed toward him. Daryl met him half way out in the field and the two men had a very interesting conversation.

Daryl poked his head into the tent, “Hey! Hey, Ray!”

She grabbed the blanket, wrapped it around her head and growled at him. She was not a morning person and nothing was going to change that. Daryl came inside the tent all the way, “Damn it Jersey, get up!”

Her hand came out from the side of the blanket and she gave him the finger. He wasn't in the mood for her games right now. He had something important to tell her and he was cranky from all her teasing with no release. He ripped the blankets off her completely. 

“What the fuck!?” She yelled at him as she sat up. They were face to face now. Daryl asked, “Ya gonna git up now?”

She narrowed her eyes at him, “Eat me!”

Before she could get anymore pissed off at him, he was kissing her. He attacked her mouth with his warm, moist lips. He spoke to her in between kisses, “Don't test me right now, Jersey.”

It felt so good to feel his soft lips against hers. He pressed her back down on the ground and laid on top of her. She entangled her body with his. She knew what he wanted but she still wasn't going to give it to him. His hands began to wonder all over her body. As soon as his lips left hers she spoke, “Alright, I'm up. Now, why are you waking me up at the crack of dawn?” 

His hands had a mind of their own. He heard her but, didn't want to stop. 

“Daryl?” She grabbed his hands and got his attention. 

He looked at her with frustration all over his face, “You and I are going to go ask some questions but we have to do it before anyone else wakes up.”

Rayne was confused about Daryl's intentions but went along with his plan. She shooed him out of the tent and got dressed as fast as she could. She appeared out of the tent several moments later in the same outfit that she wore the first day they met. Daryl turned and looked at her in awe. Of course she had worn that outfit before since no one had an abundance of clothing now a days. For some reason though, today was different. He began to recall how they met that day, how she kissed him. The passion he felt behind it. He never had a woman kiss him like that before that day. It had been months since that day but, he still felt the same way about her, if not more than he could have ever imagined. 

She saw that his mind had wondered, “Are you alright, Daryl?”

He gave himself a metal shake, “Huh? Yeah, Yeah I'm fine.” He closed the gap between them and continued to speak, “Alright, here is the plan. We are gonna pay this Randall guy a visit an' do wha'ever we have to do to git some answers.”

Rayne was surprised and still confused, “Don't you think we should talk to Rick about all this? I'm not sure if he likes the way we do things.”

Daryl smiled slightly, “He doesn't like the way YOU do things. He came to see me this morning. He told me to do whatever I had to do to get some answers out of this kid. He said that T-Dog is on guard duty but he wont give us any trouble.”

She smiled, “Whatever it is, I got your back, Dixon.”

He slung his crossbow on his back, “Alright then, let's get moving.”

They walked quietly over to the small shed toward the back of the house. Everyone else was still asleep accept for Rick. He nodded to them as they walked by. T-Dog was sitting on the step rubbing his eyes. Daryl told him to go get some sleep, that they would stand watch. Daryl opened the lock and walked into the shed. Rayne shut the door behind her after they were inside. Randall was blindfolded still and was looking around the room when he heard someone come in. 

Daryl bent down in front of him and removed his blindfold, “We are going to have a lit'le chat and your going to tell me everything I want to know.”

Rayne stood in the shadows trying to let Daryl take control. Daryl hit Randall in the face. He didn't want to waste anytime, he needed this little punk to know that they were serious. Daryl asked him where his friends were. Randall replied with, “I don't know.”

Yeah, that wasn't going to be a good enough answer for Daryl. Daryl paced the floor, chewing on the inside of his cheek. Daryl hit him with more force this time. Randall cried out that he didn't know anything. Daryl hit him over and over again. 

Randall spit out blood as he said, “I already told you.”

“You ain't told me shit!” growled Daryl as he hit him again. 

Randall pleaded, “I barely knew those guys! I met them on the road.”

Daryl stared him down, “How many in your group?” Randall didn't answer quick enough. Daryl took his knife from it's sheath.

Randall panicked, “No, no, no, no, no. Come on man.”

Daryl lunged at him and stuck the knife into the floor beside his injured leg. He yelled, “How many?”

The kid looked horrified. He answered, “Ah, 30. 30 guys.”

Randall panted in relief. Daryl asked him, “Where?”

Daryl looked over his shoulder at Rayne, standing by the door. He knew that she could smell a lie a mile away. She nodded at him and Daryl knew what he needed to do next. Daryl cut open Randall's pant leg and ripped the bandage off. 

He screamed in pain, “I don't know I swear. We were never anyplace more than one night.”

Daryl asked as he stick the tip of his blade into the wound, “Scountin'? Plannin' on stayin' local?”

Randall yelled, “I don't fucking know. They left me behind.”

Daryl asked him, “Ya ever pick off a scab? Ya start real slow at first but sooner or later, ya just gotta rip it off.”

Rayne couldn't help the beating of her heart or the aching in her body and the sound of his voice. It was probably bad timing but that man could always push her buttons. Randall was screaming and pleading with Daryl to stop. Finally he cried out, “OK! OK, they, they, they have weapons. Heavy stuff, automatics but, but, but I didn’t do anything.”

Daryl got in his face, “Ya boys shot at my boys! Tried to take this farm. You just went along for the ride. Ya tryin' te tell me your fucking innocent.”

Randall yelled, “Yes!”

Rayne stepped forward, “He's lying.”

Randall looked over to Rayne and then back to Daryl, “No, No I'm not. These people took me in. Not just guys, a whole group of them. Men and women uh, uhh, kids too. Just like you people. Thought I would have a better chance with them, ya know. But, we go out, scavenge. Just the men.”

Daryl and Rayne were quiet while Randall spoke. Rayne listened to him intently, watching his eyes and body language. Daryl was facing Rayne and looked over to her once more before he turned his attention back to the bleeding man on the floor. 

He took a few deep breathes and continued, “One night we found this little campsite. A man and his two daughters. Teenagers, ya know.”

Randall's face began to change and an evil look was now in his eyes. Rayne felt her stomach flip flop, she knew that look. Randall hung his head for a few moments but lifted his eyes and continued, “Really young, really cute.” 

Daryl froze and looked over his shoulder at Randall. Then he saw Rayne breathing heavy, nostrils flaring, as if she could almost breath fire. He knew that she was doing whatever she could to control the anger welling up inside of herself. 

Daryl turned to face Randall now. He watched as Randell eyed down Rayne and spoke to Daryl, “Pretty, but not as pretty as her.”

Daryl lunged at him but Rayne put her hand out across his chest to catch him. She wanted to hear him finish talking. He went on, “They daddy had to watch, while these guys.....” He fell silent for only a moment, “They didn't even kill them after wards, they just made him watch. His daughters, just, just, just left 'em there. But I didn't touch those girls. I swear.”

Daryl went to kick him but Rayne beat him to it. She hit him so hard she heard something break. She just hit him over and over again. Rayne yelled in his face, “You think it's cool to watch someone being raped? You did nothing to stop it, you piece of shit! Your just as fucking guilty as they are!” She grabbed him by his shirt and lifted him upright. She spit right in his face, “There is a special place in Hell for people like you.” She hit him one more time and knocked him out cold.

Daryl came up behind her and tried to pick her up off the floor. She shrugged away from him but he still grabbed a hold of her. He lifted her up and turned her toward him. Her head was hung down. Daryl bent down to look at her eyes, “He can't hurt ya. I'm right here, Rayne, I'm right here.”

They walked out of the shed and toward the now gathered group. The group looked shocked when they saw Daryl and Rayne's hands covered in blood. Rayne's face was nervous and her eyes were rimmed with hot tears. 

Daryl looked to Rick and spoke, “Ya boy theres got a gang. 30 men, got heavy artillery and they ain't looking to make friends. They roll through here, our boys are dead. And our women, they are gonna wish they were.”

He grabbed Rayne and pulled her close to him. He pressed his lips to the side of her hair as she turned to hide the tears. 

Carol looked at the two of them, “What did you do?”

Rayne snapped her head toward Carol, “What needed to be fucking done!” Rayne stormed off, pushing Rick and Shane out of her way. 

Daryl looked to Carol and the rest of the group, “We had a lit'le chat.” He ducked his head away from them and walked off to join Rayne.

When Rayne reached their camp she paced back a forth for a bit. She grabbed her knife and flung it into the nearest tree as hard as she could. “Fuck!” she screamed. Daryl slowed his pace the closer he got to her. He put his crossbow down and reached out for her. When he finally reached her, she flinched but still let him touch her. He wrapped himself around her to try and shield her from the pain she was feeling. After awhile Rayne wanted to go kill things so they decided to go out hunting. Not that they really needed the food but maybe it was more for the sport of it at this point. As they were gathering their supplies, they saw Dale walking toward them. 

When Daryl saw him getting closer he scoffed, “The whole point of me coming out here is to get away from you people.”

Dale said, “It's gonna take more than that.”

He asked as he gathered his arrows, “Carol send ya?”

Dale looked over to Rayne then back to Daryl, “Carol's not the only one worried about you two and your new roles in the group.”

Rayne huffed and walked away from the men. Daryl watched her then turned to Dale, “This groups broken. I'm better off fending for myself.”

Dale said sternly, “You act like you don't care. Your not fending for yourself out here, neither of you are. Your both taking care of each other. Don't stand here and act like you don't care because a blind man could see that you both care deeply for each other.”

Rayne stopped and looked back, then began to walk back to them. Daryl told Dale, “Look man I don't need my head shrunk. What do you want Dale?”

“Your opinion matters Daryl. Why not stand with me if it really doesn't matter if he lives or dies.”

Daryl put his jacket on, “Man, I didn't peg you for a desperate son of a bitch.”

“People look to you for answers, Daryl.”

Daryl slung his bow on his shoulder, “Man, ain't nobody looking to me for nothing.”

Dale pointed to Rayne, “You don't think she looks to you for answers? She almost beat Andrea to death for you. I would say that Rayne of all people will always be looking to you. I'm here right now Daryl, and you obviously have Rick's ear.”

Daryl moved toward Dale, “Rick just looks to Shane. Let 'em!”

Dale chimed in with, “You cared about what happened to Sophia. You both did. You cared what it meant to the group. Torturing people? That's not like you two. Your a decent man and your a decent woman. So is Rick. Now Shane, he's different.”

Now Dale had Rayne's attention. Daryl came closer, “Why's that? 'Cause he killed Otis?”

Dale's eyes lit up, “He tell you that?” 

“He told some story...how Otis covered him. Saved his ass. He showed up with the dead guy's gun. Rick ain't stupid. If he didn't figure that out it's cause he don't wanna. It's like I said......group's broken.”

Daryl and Rayne walked off and into the woods leaving Dale to his thoughts. As they got father into the woods the silence was starting to wear thin on the both of them. Rayne was replaying most of the day in her head trying to sort it all out. She got stuck on images of Daryl yelling and beating up Randall. Maybe she was a complete sicko but watching him take charge like that really turned her on. 

“Ya here?” said Daryl.

Rayne was instantly back to reality. She smiled a little bit, “hmm, yeah I guess. It's been kind of a fucked up day. What are we hunting for anyway?”

Daryl smiled, “Anything we can find at this point. There hasn't been much around.”

Rayne stopped and leaned her bow against a tree. She tied up her hair and looked over at Daryl, “Dale's right ya know.”

He looked over his shoulder at her, “Bout what?”

She smiled her sweet little smile at him, “About you being a decent man. Don't get my wrong I still think your a complete asshole but, your a good man Daryl. I wish you could see what I see in you.”

Daryl scoffed, “I thought you liked me being an asshole?”

She said to him with narrow and playful eyes, “That was supposed to be our little secret, ya know. There are plenty of other things I like about you.” She winked at him and walked off, leaving him standing there with a smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm Back! i can't even begin to say how sorry i am for not updating as much as i should. My life got crazy chaotic and i got a new job so i have been working a lot. That still is no excuse for leaving all of you lovely ppl in the dust. I'm working on this more so i'm hoping to get more updates your way. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, drop me a line and tell me what you think :)


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